Course Details
Course Information Package
Course Unit Title | INTRODUCTION TO MICROECONOMICS | ||||||||||
Course Unit Code | ABSE101 | ||||||||||
Course Unit Details | |||||||||||
Number of ECTS credits allocated | 5 | ||||||||||
Learning Outcomes of the course unit | By the end of the course, the students should be able to:
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Mode of Delivery | Face-to-face | ||||||||||
Prerequisites | NONE | Co-requisites | NONE | ||||||||
Recommended optional program components | NONE | ||||||||||
Course Contents | Introduction to Economics Economic agents and economic problems. Inputs and outputs. The production possibility frontier. The law of increasing marginal opportunity cost. Economic Systems The role of the market in the solution of the three economic problems. Resource allocation and the rational for government intervention. Market Outcomes and Market Failures vs. Government Failures Market Fundamentals The demand for goods. The demand schedule and the demand curve. Factors, determining demand. Shifts in demand. The supply of goods. The supply schedule and the supply curve. Factors, determining supply. Shifts in supply. The market equilibrium. Effects of a shift in supply or demand. Quantifying Market Responses: Elasticity. Price elasticity of demand. Elasticity and revenue. Income elasticity of demand. Cross-price elasticity of demand. Price elasticity of supply. Applications of Supply and Demand and Price Elasticity The economics of agriculture. The impact of a tax on price and quantity. Price controls. Price floors and price ceilings. Demand and Consumer Behaviour Choice and utility. Consumer equilibrium. The dynamics of consumer equilibrium: income effect and substitution effect. Deriving the demand curve. Consumer surplus. | ||||||||||
Recommended and/or required reading: | |||||||||||
Textbooks |
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References |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods | Ex cathedra lectures and discussions in class, by means of traditional tools or using computer demonstrations. Some of the key issues are revealed on the basis of simulation games. Auditory exercises, where examples regarding matter represented at the lectures, are solved and further, questions related to particular open-ended topic issues are compiled by the students and answered, during the lecture or assigned as homework. Topic notes are compiled by students, during the lecture which serve to cover the main issues under consideration and can also be downloaded from the lecturer’s webpage. Tutorial problems are also submitted as homework and these are solved during lectures or privately during lecturer’s office hours. Further literature search is encouraged by assigning students to identify a specific problem related to some issue, gather relevant scientific information about how others have addressed the problem and report this information in written or orally. | ||||||||||
Assessment methods and criteria |
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Language of instruction | English | ||||||||||
Work placement(s) | NO |