ECON 701 Microeconomic Theory - Course Outlines

Course Prescription

Advanced treatment of traditional topics from "core" microeconomics, including consumer theory and duality, expected utility theory, general equilibrium, game theory and the economics of information.

Course Overview

This course given a broad coverage of the central areas of modern microeconomic theory. It deepens the coverage of the areas covered in the undergraduate course ECON 301, in particular introducing the use of nonlinear programming and some basic convex analysis. The course is designed to introduce students to some central themes and results in graduate microeconomic theory. The chosen topics are also important for understanding many applied fields, such as labour economics, industrial organisation, international trade and public economics. It is assumed that students taking this course have obtained a good grade in ECON 301 Advanced Microeconomics. It is especially important that students have a thorough grasp of the mathematics of constrained optimisation (Lagrange's method). The lecture slides and exercises from ECON 301 are an excellent place to review these ideas prior to the start of ECON 701.

Each week there are assigned recordings for students to watch and a set of exercises that should be attempted prior to class meetings where students can ask for further explanation and will be expected to contribute to discussion of the recorded material and the exercises. Exercises are to be handed in at the first class of the week and will be graded on a 0, 1, 2, 3 scale. (3: all exercises attempted and mostly right, 2: most exercises attempted and many right, 1: less than that, 0: exercises not submitted that week.) Marks will be available promptly but exercises will not be returned. Students should keep a copy of their answers and be ready to present answers in class and participate in class room discussion of the exercises. Students will be called on by name to make presentations or add comments. All students are expected to attend all classes. If you cannot attend class you cannot take this course.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Apply the relevant mathematical techniques (such as Lagrange's method) to address key economic problems of optimizing in the presence of resource constraints. (Capability 3)
Examine the work-horse expected utility model, and become familiar with its advantages and drawbacks and its application in economics analysis. (Capability 1)
Analyse become familiar with the basic general equilibrium model, the Welfare theorems, identify Pareto optimal allocations and compute equilibrium prices. (Capability 1)
Acquire use a basic toolkit from game theory including ability to identify appropriate solution concepts and compute equilibrium strategies. (Capability 1 and 3)

Assessments

Assessment Type	Percentage	Classification
Weekly Exercises	30%	Individual Coursework
Classroom Participation	10%	Individual Coursework
Tests	60%	Individual Test
3 types	100%

Assessment Type	Learning Outcome Addressed
	1	2	3	4
Weekly Exercises
Classroom Participation
Tests

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of recorded material to view prior to class, 3 hours of class time, and 5 hours of reading, thinking about the content, and work on exercises and test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is expected at all scheduled activities to complete components of the course.

Lectures will be available as recordings.

The course will not include live online events .

Attendance on campus is required for the test and exam.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Slides and some other material written by the lecturer will be available on CANVAS along with other material such as exercises and solutions.

Recomended Text:

G.A. Jehle and P.J. Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley, 2011.

Other Useful References:

Mas-Colell, M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, 1995.

Hal R. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis,

David M. Kreps, A Course in Microeconomic Theory,

David M. Kreps, Microeconomic Foundations I: Choice and Competitive Markets,

Ariel Rubinstein, Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

On the basis of previous years' experience I would like to emphasise that a good knowledge of the material covered in ECON 301 is expected. The arrangement of the material and its organisation on CANVAS was substantially revised in 2022 and the response of students to that organisation was very positive.

Previous years' experience has shown that students not attending all classes have tended not to do well. The assessment has been redesigned to make attendence at lectures, and more importantly active participation in lectures mandatory.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Capability 1:	Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 3:	Solution Seeking

ECON 701 : Microeconomic Theory

Business and Economics

2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)