Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Lectures: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session
"Where I am not understood, it shall be concluded that something very useful and profound is couched underneath." J. Swift.
Prerequisites
- 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics
- 18.02 Multivariable Calculus
Textbook
Varian, Hal R. Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. 7th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2005. ISBN: 9780393927023. The 6th edition may also be used.
Grading and Requirements
The final grade in the course will be based on the following weights:
| ACTIVITIES | WEIGHTS |
|---|---|
| Midterm Exam | 1/3 |
| Final Exam | 1/2 |
| Homeworks | 1/6 |
| Project | w/k |
Homeworks
Homeworks are due two days after the second lecture session, to be collected at recitations. Alternatively, you may put them (before the recitation) in the TA's mail folder. Joint work is not permitted. You may discuss ideas, help each other with material in general, but, ultimately, your homework has to be a unique written (or typed) piece. Late homework gets no credit.
All issues with rescheduling exams have to be resolved beforehand.
Calendar
| SES # | TOPICS |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and Preview |
| Consumer Theory | |
| 2 | Choice, Preferences, Utility |
| 3 | Demand, Revealed Preferences, Comparative Statics |
| 4 | Consumer Surplus, Aggregation |
| 5 | Variations to the Basic Choice Model (Time, Uncertainty) |
| Producer Theory | |
| 6 | Technology, Profit Maximization, Cost Minimization |
| 7 | Supply, Aggregation |
| Markets | |
| 8 | Monopoly |
| 9 | Oligopoly and Game Theory |
| 10 | Walrasian Equilibrium |
| Market Failures | |
| 11 | Externalities |
| 12 | Public Goods |
| 13 | Small Number of Agents, Nash Bargaining |
| Asymmetric Information | |
| 14 | Adverse Selection, Moral Hazard, Principal-Agent Model |
| 15 | Auction Design |
| 16 | Voting and Other Applications |