ECON104-14S1 (C) Semester One 2014

Introduction to Microeconomics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 24 February 2014
End Date: Sunday, 29 June 2014
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 7 March 2014
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 23 May 2014

Description

Scarcity, exchange and trade. Market analysis and policy. Consumer choice theory. Theory of the firm. Imperfect competition. Externalities and public goods.

ECON104 studies microeconomics, which examines theories of how consumers and producers behave and interact in individual markets.  The course covers a general study of the workings of markets and a more in-depth analysis of the two sides - supply (producers) and demand (consumers).  The course also covers issues that do not fit the conventional assumptions of the supply and demand framework.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to 'think like an economist', and apply basic economic principles such as the role incentives play in people's behaviour.
2. Students will understand the concept of market efficiency, and will be able to analyse the impact of government policies.
3. Students will be able to identify and evaluate occasions when markets function best without direct government involvement.
4. Students will be able to identify and evaluate occasions when markets left on their own are unlikely to result in the best outcomes, and discuss the role of government in these markets.
5. Students will be able to use the theories of economics to describe and explain the behaviour of people and firms.

Restrictions

Course Coordinator

Steve Agnew

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Final Exam 55%
On-line multi choice tests 5%
Progress Test 5%
Term Test 25%
On-line Tutorial Quizzes 10%

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

McTaggart, Douglas. , Findlay, Christopher., Parkin, Michael; Economics ; 7th ed; Pearson Australia, 2013 (This is also the text for ECON 105 along with 'The New Zealand Macroeconomy' by S Hickson. (Pearson, 2014)).

This is also the text for ECON105 along with 'The New Zealand Macroeconomy' by S Hickson (Pearson 2014).

Some very readable books which give a very good introduction to the key ideas in economics include:
"New Ideas from Dead Economists" by Todd Buchholz
"The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford
"Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

Course links

Course Outline

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $709.00

International fee $3,063.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Department of Economics and Finance .

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