Principles of Microeconomics - econ.pitt.edu Syllabi.pdf · : This course is designed to introduce students to the principles of microeconomics. It It focuses on the structure and

Intro. Microeconomic Theory Prof. Frank Giarratani ECON 0100 Spring Term 2012 (2124)

Lectures: L9 Clapp Hall MW 1:00 – 1:50 PM Office hours: 4926 Posvar Hall, MW 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Course description: This course is designed to introduce students to the principles of microeconomics. It focuses on the structure and functions of markets, by examining some of the basic economic decisions made by consumers and firms. Students may use this course as a gateway to a wide variety of applied economics courses and as a foundation for more advanced study. It also provides information that is basic to inquiry in many other disciplines. Course Web Site: The course web site provides complete information concerning examinations and other required elements of the course. It is designed to assist you in organizing your work and keeping track of your progress in the course. Use it to good advantage:

http://courseweb.pitt.edu Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, Sixth Edition (South-Western CENGAGE Learning, 2012). Prerequisites: The course presumes a good working knowledge of high-school algebra as well as the ability to understand and use graphs. To gauge your ability in pre-requisite skills, read the Appendix (Graphing: A Brief Review) in Chapter 2 of the required textbook. Grading policy: Two mid-term exams and a final exam will be offered. The mid-term exams are not cumulative. One part of the final exam is cumulative, and one part is not cumulative. There are two scheduled quizzes in the course. One or more unannounced quizzes may be offered as extra credit opportunities. The weights of exams and quizzes in the final course grade are as follows:

Component Percentage Weight Required Chapters

Mid-term Exam 1 25 CH 1 – 6


Scheduled Quizzes (2) 5 CH 13 – 14, CH 15 – 17

Final Exam – Part 1 30 CH 13 – 19

Final Exam – Part 2 15 CH 1 – 11, 13 – 19

Total 100

Make-up policy: Make-up exams are permitted only for documented illness or emergency. On-line quizzes cannot be made up and must be taken on the day they are offered. For make-up exams, the format and type of problems required may not be similar to those on the originally scheduled exam. Homework: It is essential that students are adequately prepared for each lecture, and students are expected to read assigned material in preparation for each lecture. Required homework includes the multiple-choice problems for each chapter that are available in the Homework content area of the course web site. The Homework content area also includes a set of problems that are drawn from the “Problems and Applications” section at the end of each chapter in the textbook. These problems are highly recommended and often are used in developing questions for the examinations. Final Exam: Saturday, April 28, 2:00 – 3:50 PM

http://courseweb.pitt.edu/�

Intro. Microeconomic Theory Prof. Frank Giarratani ECON 0100 Fall Term 2011 (2121)

Lectures: 216 CL TH 2:30 – 3:45 PM Office hours: 4926 Posvar Hall, TH 12:30 – 2:00 PM


http://courseweb.pitt.edu Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, Sixth Edition (South-Western CENGAGE Learning, 2012). Prerequisites: The course presumes a good working knowledge of high-school algebra as well as the ability to understand and use graphs. A multiple-choice quiz that will test prerequisite skills is available in the Homework content area of the course web site. Although your score on this quiz will not be included in the calculation of your grade, all students must take the quiz before September 9, 2011, which is the last day of the Add/Drop period. Students who fail to take the prerequisite quiz by the end of the Add/Drop period will be penalized by a one-point reduction of their overall weighted average at the end of the term. See also Chapter 2, Appendix, Graphing: A Brief Review. Grading policy: Two mid-term exams and a final exam will be offered. The mid-term exams are not cumulative. One part of the final exam is cumulative, and one part is not cumulative. There are three essay assignments and two scheduled quizzes in the course. One or more unannounced quizzes may be offered as extra credit opportunities. The weights of exams, quizzes, and essays in the final course grade are as follows:




Essays (3) 10 All course material




Total 100

Make-up policy: Make-ups are permitted only for documented illness or emergency. For make-up exams and quizzes, the format and type of problems required may not be similar to those on the standard exam or quiz. Homework: It is essential that students are adequately prepared for each lecture, and students are expected to read assigned material in preparation for each lecture. Required homework includes the multiple-choice problems for each chapter that are available in the Homework content area of the course web site. The Homework content area also includes a set of problems that are drawn from the “Problems and Applications” section at the end of each chapter in the textbook. These problems are highly recommended and are used in developing questions for the examinations.

http://courseweb.pitt.edu/�

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ECON 0110 (11044): INTRODUCTORY MACROECONOMICS T H 1:00 TO 1:50 LAWRN 121

FALL, 2011 TERM: 2121

AUG. 2011 – DEC. 2011

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JAMES L. KENKEL 4709 WWPH 412-563-4128 [email protected]

Office Hours: TU & TH: 8 AM to 9:15 AM and 11 AM to 11:50 AM TEXT: Macroeconomics, A Contemporary Introduction, William A. McEachern,

9th Edition, Thompson – Southwestern. The Study Guide is not required, but is recommended.

GRADING SYSTEM: Mid-term exam 1: 250 points Mid-term exam 2: 250 points Final exam: 500 points ____ Total 1,000 points GRADE SCALE: A+: 975 TO 1000 A: 925 TO 974 A-: 900 TO 924 B+: 875 TO 899 B: 825 TO 874 B-: 800 TO 824 C+: 775 TO 799 C: 725 TO 774 C-: 700 TO 724 D+: 675 TO 699 D: 625 TO 674 D-: 600 TO 624 EXTRA CREDIT: There is no extra credit available in this course. STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE Two hours of lecture and one hour of recitation per week. Mid-term Test 1: Approximately 25 multiple choice questions: 250 total points Mid-term Test 2: Approximately 25 multiple choice questions: 250 total points Final exam: Approximately 75 multiple choice questions: 500 total points No quizzes or tests in recitations. Your test and exam grades will be posted on Courseweb. After your grades have been posted, you have 10 days to request a correction. Otherwise, your grade will remain unchanged.

mailto:[email protected]

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ECON 0110 (11044): INTRODUCTORY MACROECONOMICS T H 1:00 TO 1:50 LAWRN 121

AUG. 2011 – DEC. 2011

INSTRUCTOR: DR. JAMES L. KENKEL 4709 WWPH 412-563-4128 [email protected]

Office Hours: TU & TH 8:00 AM to 9:15 AM & 11:00 AM to 11:50 AM SECRETARY: LAUREE GRAHAM 4706 WWPH [email protected] 412-648-8745 TEACHING ASSISTANTS: Mr. Hansoo Choi 4909 WWPH [email protected] 412-648-1796 Mr. Jae Won Kang 4523 WWPH [email protected] 412-648-1766 Ms. Yue Li 4513 WWPH [email protected] 412-648-2825 RECITATIONS: 1. 11954 TH 4 PM FKART 203 Li 2. 11590 TH 5 PM FKART 203 Li 3. 11592 F 10 AM WWPH 5200 Choi 4. 11140 F 11 AM WWPH 5200 Choi 5. 11139 F 11 AM CL 363 Li 6. 11046 F 12 PM CL 363 Li 7. 11045 F 12 PM CL 206 Kang 8. 11591 F 1 PM CL 206 Kang






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SYLLABUS AND LECTURE NOTES ARE ON COURSEWEB All class material is available on Courseweb. To get access to the material, proceed as follows: 1. Log onto Courseweb at courseweb.pitt.edu 2. Click on the appropriate course. 3. Click on "Course Documents" 4. Under "1. All course documents" you should see all the course materials listed. 5. Click on any item and print out the material. If you wish, you might want to reformat the lecture notes to condense them to save paper. PEOPLESOFT NUMBER: Your tests will be multiple choice and your answers will be recorded on scantrons. In order for the computer to record your scores, you must fill in your PEOPLESOFT NUMBER on the scantron. The following instructions show how to access your PEOPLESOFT NUMBER. HOW TO ACCESS YOUR PEOPLESOFT NUMBER 1. Login to my.pitt.edu 2. Login with your user name and password 3. Click on the link “PittPAY Login” at the right of the screen 4. Your seven-digit Peoplesoft ID number will appear directly next to your name at the top left of the page (below the Pitt seal) in the gold band If you cannot find your number, let me know because I have access to the numbers for all students enrolled in the class.

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WHAT IS MACROECONOMICS? The course helps explain how the US economy works. Topics covered include factors which influence the level of output and our standard of living in the economy; determinants of the inflation rate & unemployment rate; the stock market, the bond market, the behavior of interest rates, the social security system, the US tax system, theories which explain the consumption and saving behavior of households, the behavior of business firms, how the Federal government influences the economy, the deficit and national debt, the money supply, the banking system, the Federal Reserve System, and how fiscal policy and monetary policy influence the economy. STUDY TIME REQUIREMENTS There is a lot of material to be covered in this course. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours per day reading the book or you will find yourself hopelessly behind at test or exam time. PREREQUISITES No Economics prerequisites. Good knowledge of college algebra. Calculus is not required. THE TEXTBOOK Some lectures present material not covered in the book. Syllabus shows what material will be covered in each lecture. CLASS PREPARATION Read the assigned sections of the text before coming to class. Many lectures cover topics not covered in your book. Take lots of notes. COURSEWEB: The syllabus, lecture notes, practice homeworks and practice tests are posted on Courseweb. ALL the material is posted under Course Documents. That is, even the syllabus is listed under Course Documents. MISSING A TEST OR EXAM Dates for the mid-term exams are tentative and may be moved back slightly depending on how quickly we have covered the assigned material. The exact date for each test will be announced in class at least one week in advance. You need a valid reason to delay an exam, (serious illness, death in the family, etc.) Contact me in class, by e-mail, or by phone BEFORE the exam, so we can discuss a suitable arrangement for a make-up exam.

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TESTS AND EXAMS ARE CLOSED BOOK: You will need a calculator. RECITATIONS 1. The syllabus shows what will be covered during each recitation. 2. TAs may cover new material not covered in class lectures. 3. TAs will answer questions about the practice homework problems, if asked. 4. No quizzes or tests will be given during recitations. GETTING HELP If you need help, first see me in the classroom just before or after class. Usually I can answer your questions in a minute or two. Alternatively, for help, contact me or your TA during our office hours, by telephone, by e-mail, or make an appointment. ADD-DROP A COURSE: Enrollment Forms and Drop Forms are available in the Registration Office, G-1 Thackeray Hall. COURSE WITHDRAWAL: To withdraw from a course after the official end of the add/drop period, you must process a “Monitored Withdrawal Request” form. It can be obtained through the dean’s office in Thackeray Hall (412-624-6480). Approval for you to withdraw from a course is at the discretion of the dean. There is no tuition reimbursement associated with a course withdrawal. W, G, AND I GRADES INSTRUCTORS CANNOT GIVE W GRADES; YOU MUST SEE THE DEAN. The University has cut-off dates for W grades. G grades are given only when students who have been attending a course and have been making regular progress are prevented by EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES (usually illness) from completing the course after it is too late to withdraw. CAS requires that G grades be completed within the next term. I: I grades are for graduate thesis research. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY It is your responsibility to do your own work. Do not look around during tests and keep your work covered. Honest conduct means that one neither take credit for the work of others nor knowingly allow others to do so. Cheating on exams and quizzes is forbidden, and suspected violations will be dealt with in accordance with the University's Guidelines on Academic Integrity.

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ECON 0110 (11044): INTRODUCTORY MACROECONOMICS T H 1:00 - 1:50 LAWRN 121

AUG. 2011 – DEC 2011 THE LISTED MID-TERM TEST DATES ARE TENTATIVE. THE ACTUAL DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN CLASS AT LEAST ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE. DATE TUE TH SUBJECT AUG 30 1 INTRODUCTION, TOPICS STUDIED IN MACRO CH 1, 2, 3, 5 NO RECITATION DURING FIRST WEEK ____________________________________________________________________ SEP 6 8 MACROECONOMIC POLICY GOALS, ECONOMIC FALLACIES,

TYPES OF ECONOMIC STATEMENTS CH 1, 2, 3, 5 NO RECITATION THIS WEEK

____________________________________________________________________ SEP 13 15 PRODUCTION POSSIBILITY CURVE,

OPPORTUNITY COST CH. 2, 7 RECITATION: DIFFERENT ECONOMIC SYSTEMS CH. 2

____________________________________________________________________ SEP 20 22 GAINS FROM TRADE, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

INTERNATIONAL TRADE CH. 2, 18 RECITATION: SAME

____________________________________________________________________ SEP 27 29 LEGAL ORGANIZATION OF BUSINESS FIRMS, TAXES, STOCK

MARKET, BOND MARKET, PRESENT VALUE, NOTES RECITATION: PRODUCTION POSSIBILITY CURVE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

____________________________________________________________________ OCT 4 6 LEGAL ORGANIZATION OF BUSINESS FIRMS, TAXES, STOCK

MARKET, BOND MARKET, PRESENT VALUE, SOCIAL SECURITY, U.S TAX SYSTEM KENKEL NOTES

RECITATION: MEASURING GDP CH. 7 ____________________________________________________________________ OCT 11 NO LECTURE CLASS AND NO TUESDAY RECITATION Monday recitation meets on Tuesday OCT 13 MEASURING NOMINAL GDP BY THE EXPENDITURE APPROACH

REAL GDP CH. 6 RECITATION: SAME

____________________________________________________________________ OCT 18 20 EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION CH. 7

RECITATION: SAME ____________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________ OCT 25 EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION CH. 7

RECITATION: SAME OCT 27 MID-TERM EXAM 1 (DATE IS TENTATIVE)

ALL MATERIAL UP TO AND INCLUDING INFLATION YOU WILL NEED A CALCULATOR ____________________________________________________________________ NOV 1 THE CONSUMPTION FUNCTION CH. 9

RECITATION: SAME NOV 3 AGGREGATE EXPENDITURE AND EQUILIBRIUM OUTPUT

EXPENDITURE MULTIPLIERS CH. 9, 10 ____________________________________________________________________ NOV 5 AGGREGATE EXPENDITURE AND EQUILIBRIUM OUTPUT

EXPENDITURE MULTIPLIERS CH. 9, 10 RECITATION: SAME

NOV 7 THE FEDERAL BUDGET AND FISCAL POLICY CH. 12, 13 RECITATION: EXPENDITURE MULTIPLIERS

____________________________________________________________________ NOV 15 U.S. TAX SYSTEM KENKEL NOTES

RECITATION: EXPENDITURE MULTIPLIERS NOV 17 MID-TERM EXAM 2 (DATE IS TENTATIVE)

CUMULATIVE INCLUDING EXPENDITURE MULTIPLIERS YOU WILL NEED A CALCULATOR ____________________________________________________________________ NOV 22

TIMING PROBLEMS WITH FISCAL POLICY, AUTOMATIC STABILIZERS, REFINANCING THE DEBT, SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS, THE LAFFER CURVE: KENKEL NOTES

NOV 24 THANKSGIVING, NO CLASS NO RECITATIONS ON WED., THUR., OR FRIDAY ____________________________________________________________________ NOV 29 1 MONEY AND THE BANKING SYSTEM CH. 14, 15 THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM CH. 14, 15

RECITATION: SAME ___________________________________________________________________ DEC 6 8 THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM CH. 14, 15

RECITATION: SAME ___________________________________________________________________

FINAL EXAM NOTE THAT THE EXAM IS AT A SPECIAL TIME

SAT. DEC. 17 10:00 AM TO 11:50 AM REGULAR CLASSROOM

FINAL EXAM IS CUMULATIVE (APPROXIMATELY 60 TO 80 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS): YOU WILL NEED A CALCULATOR (FINAL EXAM TOTAL = 500 POINTS)

University of Pittsburgh Department of Economics

CRN: 11038

Econ 0100: Intro to Microeconomics Syllabus

Lecturer: Svitlana Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155 Fax: 412-648-1793 E-mail: [email protected] Class meets Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00-12:50 pm at 120 Lawrence Hall. Office hours Mondays 1:45-2:45 pm. Additional hours are available by appointment and must be scheduled at least a day in advance via e-mail. Communication E-mail is the preferred method of out-of-classroom communication. I will make every effort to answer all e-mails within 24 hours. Please feel free to give me a call during my office hours, or leave a message if I am not in. I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota. Help The material of the course is highly cumulative. If you do not understand something, please seek help immediately. You are welcome to come to my office with questions about a theoretical material presented during my lectures. Teaching assistants are available during their office hours to help you develop problem-solving skills required to complete homework assignments and perform well during exams.

TA E-mail Phone Office Office hours Tekin Kose [email protected]

412-648-7039 Posvar 4521 Thur 11:30-1:30

Fri 2:00-4:00 Ray Miller [email protected]

412-648-1763 Posvar 4923 Tue 11:00-1:00

Wed 1:00-3:00

Course Description


http://courseweb.pitt.edu/



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This course introduces students to the theory of microeconomics. Upon completion of this course students will have a deep understanding of:

• What Microeconomics is about • The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity • Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive

environment, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopolistic markets • Factor markets • Externalities and public goods • Fundamentals of international trade

Prerequisites Competence in basic algebra and geometry (graphing, linear equations, and slope of linear graphs) and a willingness to work hard.

Text and Instructional Support

Required: Microeconomics (with Myeconlab website access code) by Michael Parkin, 10th ed, published by Pearson, copyright 2011. ISBN: 978-013-273-5308. The Myeconlab access code (valid for a semester) is required in order to access on-line homework assignments. The hardcopy textbook (with Myeconlab access code) is available in the bookstore. The e-version of the text is available through Myeconlab website. At this website, you can also purchase a new code separately from the text for extra fee. Recommended: 1. the Study Guide, 9th ed, by Mark Rush to accompany the text. Publisher: Pearson,

copyright 2009, ISBN: 0321-609-115. 2. the companion website for the text www.myeconlab.com gives access to practice quizzes,

chapter summaries, and answers to the end-of-chapter questions.

Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations.

http://www.myeconlab.com/

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Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with one exception: if you notify me or the department secretary as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed. Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments. Use the access code (in your textbook) to register in my class at www.myeconlab.com. (Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb). The homework assignments are posted under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score (for the questions you missed, click on the link “try similar exercise”). After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. I recommend printing and reviewing assignments prior to exams. Students are encouraged to study in groups: it will make studies productive and fun. However, remember: all assignments must be submitted individually. In the very end of the course, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading

Attendance of lectures and recitations is required. Remember: missing classes will seriously compromise your performance in this course. Participation in problem solving sessions during recitations will give you a chance to get a higher course grade if you end up on a border. There will be no curving. Your course grade will be computed with the following weights:

• Homework assignments 25 percent • Exam 1: 25 percent • Exam 2: 25 percent • Exam 3: 25 percent


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No letter grade will be given for tests. After each exam, I will post scores on a CourseWeb Grade Book and provide students with test statistics (i.e. class average, class highest, and class lowest scores). The course letter grade will be determined as follows:

• after the final exam I will compute course scores incorporating scores earned on tests, recitations, and group assignments weighted as indicated above

• a student fails the class if a so determined course score is below 60 • the rest are graded based on the following scale:

90-100 A range 80-89 B range 70-79 C range 60-69 D range

Course Calendar

Week Dates Lecture 1 Aug 29

Aug 31 Introduction Ch 1: What is Microeconomics?

2 Sept 5 Sept 7

Labor day (University closed) Ch 2: Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF). Comparative Advantage

3 Sept 12 Sept 14

Ch 3: Demand and Supply Market Equilibrium

4 Sept 19 Sept 21

Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 26 Sept 28

Ch 5: Economic Efficiency Ch 6: Government Actions in Markets

6 Oct 3 Oct 5

Homework Assignments of Ch 1-6 are due 11:59 am Overview Ch 1-6 Exam 1

7 Oct 10 Oct 11 Oct 12

Fall Break (Monday classes meet Tuesday) Ch 10: Organizing Production Ch 11: Output and Costs

8 Oct 17 Oct 19

Ch 12: Firms in Perfectly Competitive Market

9 Oct 24 Oct 26

Ch 13: Monopoly

10 Oct 31 Nov 2

Ch 14: Monopolistic Competition Ch 15: Oligopoly

11 Nov 7 Nov 9

Homework Assignments Ch 10-15 are due 11:59 am Overview Ch 10-15 Exam 2

12 Nov 14 Nov 16

Ch 7: International Trade

13 Nov 21 Nov 23

Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods Thanksgiving recess

14 Nov 28 Ch 17: Economics of the Environment

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Nov 30 Ch 18: Factor Markets 15 Dec 5

Dec 7 Ch 18: Factor Markets (cont) Homework Assignments Ch 7, 16-18 are due 11:59am Overview Ch 7, 16-18

Study days Final exam

Thursday, Dec 15

4:00-5:50pm Room: TBA

Economics 0100—Spring Term 2124 Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 11-12, W 11-12 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Principles of Microeconomics, by N. Gregory Mankiw, 6th Edition, South-Western Cengage Learning Publishers. You are strongly encouraged to read the textbook before coming to class. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available on the Course Documents content area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework assignments will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. A paper assignment sheet will be provided during the term. Recitations: The best way to learn the principles of economics is to actively use them by solving problems that both test and extend your understanding. In addition to the graded homework sets the Course Outline & Review Sheet in the Course Documents content area on CourseWeb also contains problem sets that are highly recommended and are used in developing questions for the exams. The problem sets will not be collected and graded so your main source of feedback on them will be provided in recitations. Your TA will discuss answers to the problem sets and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. But, you should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are ready to solve the same kinds of problems on an exam. The only way to acquire this ability is to attempt the problems before you see the answers. But if you cannot solve the problem before recitation; you should return to it after recitation and make sure that you can solve it on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet also reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams.

READING AND HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE: WEEK DATES TOPIC READING HOMEWORK

PART ONE: SUPPLY, DEMAND, PRICE DETERMINATION AND MARKETS

1 Jan 5 Introduction to Class Ch 1

2 Jan 10 12

Introduction to Core Principles Gains from Trade

Ch 2 Ch 3

HW1 complete by Jan17, 10:00 am

3 Jan 17 19

Competitive Markets: The Demand and Supply Model Elasticity

Ch 4 Ch 5

HW2 complete by Jan 24, 10:00 am

4 Jan 24 26

Government Policies: Price Controls and Taxes Ch 6 HW3 complete by Jan 31, 10:00 am

5 Jan 31 Feb 2

Review Exam 1, February 2

PART TWO: MARKET EFFICIENCY AND POLICY ANALYSIS

6 Feb 7 9

How Markets Benefit Buyers and Sellers Welfare Effects of Tax Policy

Ch 7 Ch 8

HW4 complete by Feb 14, 10:00 am

7 Feb 14 16

Using Demand and Supply: International Trade Ch 9


8 Feb 21 23

Using Demand and Supply: Externalities Using Demand and Supply: Public Goods

Ch 10 Ch 11


9 Feb 28 Mar 1

Paying for Government Intervention: Tax Policy Exam 2, March 1

Ch 12

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Spring Break Week – March 4-11

PART THREE: FIRM BEHAVIOR, MARKET STRUCTURE AND FACTOR MARKETS

11 Mar 13 15

Revisiting Supply: Production and Costs Ch 13 HW7 complete by Mar 20, 10:00 am

12 Mar 20 22

Firms in Competitive Markets

Ch 14

HW8 complete by Mar 27, 10:00 am

13 Mar 27 29

Monopoly Firms

Ch 15

HW9 complete by Apr 3, 10:00 am

14 Apr 3 5

Firms in Monopolistically Competitive Markets Oligopoly

Ch 16 Ch 17


15 Apr 10 12

Factor Markets

Ch 18


16 Apr 17 19

Using Demand and Supply: Explaining Wage Differentials Review

Ch 19

FINAL EXAM – SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 2-3:50

University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 140 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

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ECON 0100: Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

Spring 2012

Lecturer: Yilan Xu Office: Posvar 4515 Phone: 412-648-1744 E-mail: [email protected] Please put ECON 0100 in the title of your email. Office Hours: Wednesday 3-5pm or by appointment Class : CL 208B, Wednesday 6-8:30pm TEXTBOOK: Modern Principles: Microeconomics by Tyler Cowan and Alex Tabarrok. Worthand Publishers, 1st edition. Course Overview:

ECON 0100 is an introductory course in microeconomic theory for students with minimum economics background. Microeconomics investigates how individual agents, such as consumers, households and firms, make (rational) decisions. The aim of this course is to introduce the student to the fundamental concepts in microeconomics and the basic tools economists use to analyze individual decision-making and how these individual choices interact in markets to determine the outcomes of the economy. Upon finishing the course, a student will be able to

Define and explain the basic concepts in microeconomics. Analyze simple real-life economic situations using the tools introduced in the course. Develop a better understanding of the role of economics in operation of the society.

Course Delivery:

The course will be taught through weekly 150-minute lectures. The lecture periods will be used for exposition of the material and discussion of previous homework assignments. Specific readings for each class are listed in the course schedule below. The lecturer will be available for consultation during advertised office hours or by appointment.

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Assessment:

The course will be assessed by three exams (25% for two midterms, 30% for the final), 10 homework assignments (20%).

You are expected to complete assignments and take examinations on the dates specified in the course schedule below. Late submissions of work or resits of examinations are only acceptable in extreme circumstances, such as severe illness/injury/death in immediate family/jury duty. A health certificate from a doctor or other evidence will be required. If for any such reason you cannot meet a deadline you must IMMEDIATELY inform the instructor by email BEFORE the deadline to arrange make-up work. It is your responsibility to keep the instructor informed of any problems you are having in meeting deadlines. There is no schedule for the quizzes and make-ups are not allowed. You are advised to attend every recitation. Note: All work submitted for this course must be your own. Any evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism in any exam or assignment will be dealt with as specified by the Academic Integrity Policy, as discussed in the University’s Undergraduate Bulletin. The Office of Disability Resources and Services (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) is available for students who have requested or wish to request accommodation for a disability. If needed please contact the office as early as possible in the term. Grading Scale:

All grades will be given as percentages out of 100. Final average grades will be calculated by weighting each score according to the weights indicated above and will be rounded to the nearest integer. 98– 100: A+ 92 – 97: A 90 – 91: A- 88 – 89: B+ 82 – 87: B 80 – 81: B- 78 – 79: C+ 72 – 77: C 70 – 71: C- 68 – 69: D+ 62 – 67: D 60 – 61: D- 0 – 59: F

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Course Schedule

Week Date Topic Homework 0 1/4 No class 1 1/11 Introduction to Class

Introduction to Economics (Ch. 1)

2 1/18 Competitive Market Model, Demand and Supply (Ch. 2)

3 1/25 Competitive Market Equilibrium (Ch. 3) Elasticity of Demand and Supply (Ch. 4)

HW 1 due at noon

4 2/1 The Importance of Prices (Ch. 5) Price Ceilings (Ch. 6) and Price Floors (Ch. 7)

HW 2 due at noon

5 2/8 Taxes and Subsidies (Ch. 7) International Trade and Trade Protection (Ch. 8)

HW 3 due at noon

6 2/15 Review, HW 1-4 Midterm 1. You will need a calculator.

HW 4 due at noon

7 2/22 Costs and Economic Profit under Competition (Ch 10)

8 2/29 Long Run Decision under Competition (Ch. 10) Monopoly (Ch. 11)

HW 5 due at noon

9 3/7 Spring Break

10 3/14 Price Discrimination (Ch. 12) Cartels and Network Goods (Ch. 13)

HW 6 due at noon

11 3/21 Labor Market (Ch. 14) Responding to Incentives (Ch. 15)

HW 7 due at noon

12 3/28 Review, HW 5-8 Midterm 2. You will need a calculator.

HW 8 due at noon

13 4/4 Externalities (Ch. 9) Public Goods (Ch. 17)

14 4/11 Public Policy (Ch. 18) Political Economy (Ch. 19)

HW 9 due at noon

15 4/18 Review HW 10 due at noon 16 4/25 Final exam. You will need a calculator.

Economics 0100 – Introduction to Microeconomic Theory Monday & Wednesday 11am-‐‑1:15pm

Posvar Hall 4900 Summer 2012 (2nd 6-‐‑week session)

Instructor: Daniel Jones TA: Siying Liu Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Office: Posvar Hall 4513 Office: Posvar Hall 4522 Office Hours: Thurs. 9:30-‐‑11:30am Office Hours: Thurs. 3-‐‑5pm

Textbook: Microeconomics, by Paul Krugman & Robin Wells, 3rd Edition.

(But the 2nd edition is fine too…) Grades:

-‐ Homework – 20% -‐ Quizzes – 15% -‐ Test 1 (July 16) – 30% -‐ Test 2 (August 1) – 35%

Tests: Tests will be taken in class on the dates indicated above (and in the schedule below). Tests will consist of multiple choice questions and short answer questions. Test 2 (the “final”) will not be cumulative and will only test material covered after the first test. (However, concepts in this course build on each other throughout the semester, so knowledge of material from the first half of the class is necessary to do well on the second test.) Make-‐‑up tests are only possible under very special circumstances. If a make-‐‑up test is absolutely necessary, please get in touch with me at least one week prior to the test so that we can make alternative arrangements. Homework: There will be a total of four homework assignments – the due dates are indicated on the schedule below. You must submit each homework prior to 11am on the date indicated on the schedule. They will be completed and submitted online through Courseweb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu). The Courseweb system will not allow late homework assignments. Each assignment is broken up into sections corresponding to chapters from the textbook. You have two opportunities to complete each chapter’s section. Every student must submit their own homework assignment, but feel free to discuss the assignments and work together with your classmates. Given the short length of this class and the large amount of material we will cover each week, the homeworks will sometimes be lengthy; it would be a good idea to start these relatively early.

Quizzes: There will be four quizzes. They will take place during recitations on the dates indicated below. The goal of these quizzes is simply to provide an additional way to check your understanding of the material between tests. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped – there will be no makeup quizzes. Recitations: This course includes a recitation that is scheduled for Mondays from 1:30-‐‑2:50. Each week, we will assign an additional set of problems from the end of the relevant chapters of the textbook; the TA will go over the problems and answer any questions about them during recitation. These problems will not be turned in, have no impact on your grade, and are intended to provide you with additional practice. However, it is highly recommended that you work on these problems prior to recitation. The goal of the recitations is to make sure that you fully understand how to solve these problems (which is particularly important given that the problems discussed in recitation will be relatively similar to short answer test questions), so knowing in advance which concepts you are having trouble with make the recitations much more useful for you. Tentative schedule for the course: (Note that we may not follow this schedule exactly. However, dates for tests, quizzes, and homeworks are firm.)

Week Dates Topics Chapters Homework Quiz Dates

1 June 25

Intro to Class; Incentives, opportunity costs, production

1, 2

June 27 Supply & demand 3, 4

2 July 2 Price & quantity controls, Elasticity 5, 6

Quiz 1

July 4 NO CLASS HW 1 (ch 1-‐‑4)

3 July 9 Taxes, International trade 7, 8

July 11 Decision making & consumers, Review for Test

9, 10

Quiz 2 (in class)

4 July 16

First Half: TEST 1 Second Half: Production

11, 12 HW 2 (ch 5-‐‑8)

July 18 Market structures 12, 13, 15

5 July 23

Oligopolies, Externalities & non-‐‑private goods

14, 16, 17

Quiz 3

July 25 Economics of the Welfare State, Income distribution & factor markets

18, 19 HW 3

(ch 9-‐‑15)

6 July 30 Uncertainty & risk, Review 20

Quiz 4

Aug 1 TEST 2

HW 4 (ch 16-‐‑20)

Academic Integrity: Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the University of Pittsburgh Policy on Academic Integrity, from the February 1974 Senate Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom reported to the Senate Council, will be required to participate in the outlined procedural process as initiated by the instructor. A minimum sanction of a zero score for the quiz or exam will be imposed. Disability Services: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-‐‑648-‐‑7890/412-‐‑383-‐‑7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and Services will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.


Lectures: 363 CL MW 3:00 – 4:15 PM Office hours: 4916 Posvar Hall, MW 1:00 – 2:30 PM


http://courseweb.pitt.edu Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, Sixth Edition (South-Western CENGAGE Learning, 2012). Prerequisites: The course presumes a good working knowledge of high-school algebra as well as the ability to understand and use graphs. See also Chapter 2, Appendix, Graphing: A Brief Review. Grading policy: Two mid-term exams and a final exam will be offered. The mid-term exams are not cumulative. One part of the final exam is cumulative, and one part is not cumulative. There are two essay assignments and two scheduled quizzes in the course. The weights of exams, quizzes, and essays in the final course grade are as follows:




Essays (2) 10 All course material




Total 100

Make-up policy: Make-ups are permitted only for documented illness or emergency. For make-up exams and quizzes, the format and type of problems required may not be similar to those on the standard exam or quiz. Homework: It is essential that students are adequately prepared for each lecture, and students are expected to read assigned material in preparation for each lecture. Required homework includes the multiple-choice problems for each chapter that are available in the Homework content area of the course web site. The Homework content area also includes a set of problems that are drawn from the “Problems and Applications” section at the end of each chapter in the textbook. These problems are highly recommended and are used in developing questions for the examinations.


Economics 0100—Fall Term 2131 Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 11-12, W 11-12 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available on the Course Documents content area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. A paper assignment sheet will be provided during the term. Recitations: The best way to learn the principles of economics is to actively use them by solving problems that both test and extend your understanding. In addition to the graded homework sets the Course Outline & Review Sheet in the Course Documents content area on CourseWeb also contains problem sets that I highly recommend that you complete and will be used in developing questions for the exams. The problem sets will not be collected and graded so your main source of feedback on them will be provided in recitations. Your TA will discuss answers to the problem sets and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. But, you should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are ready to solve the same kinds of problems on an exam. The only way to acquire this ability is to attempt the problems before you see the answers. But if you cannot solve the problem before recitation; you should return to it after recitation and make sure that you can solve it on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet also reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams.

READING AND HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

WEEK DATES TOPIC READING HOMEWORK


1 Aug 28 30

Introduction to Class Introduction to Economics/Simple Economic Models

Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Sept 4 Sept 6

Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) and Trade Competitive Market Model (Demand and Supply)

Ch 2 Ch 3

HW1 complete by Sept 11, 10 am

3 Sept 11 13

Gains from Trade and Economic Efficiency Government Policies: Price and Quantity Controls

Ch 4 Ch 5


4 Sept 18 20

Elasticity: Measuring the Response to Price Changes Ch 6


5 Sept 25 27

Taxes Ch 7

HW4 complete by Oct 2, 10 am

6 Oct 2 Oct 4

Review EXAM 1, OCTOBER 4

PART TWO: MARKET STRUCTURE AND MARKETS

7 Oct 9 11

FALL BREAK – NO TUESDAY CLASS Marginal Analysis and Making Decisions at the Margin

Ch 9


8 Oct 16 18

Behind the Supply Curve Perfect Competition

Ch 11 Ch 12 (p. 345-360)


9 Oct 23 25

Perfectly Competition (cont’d) Monopoly

Ch 12 (p. 360-367) Ch 13


10 Oct 30 Nov 1

Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly

Ch 15 Ch 14

HW8 complete by Nov 6, 10 am

11 Nov 6 8

Review EXAM 2, NOVEMBER 8

PART THREE: MARKETS AND GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

12 Nov 13 15

International Trade

Ch 8 HW9 complete by Nov 20, 10 am

13 Nov 20 22

Externalities THANKSGIVING BREAK

Ch 16

HW10 complete Nov 29, 10 am

14 Nov 27 29

Externalities (cont’d) Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics

Ch 16 Ch 17

HW11 complete by Dec 6, 10 am

15 Dec 4 6

Factor Markets and Income Distribution Review

Ch 19

FINAL EXAM, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 8:00-9:50 AM University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.


CRN: 11005, 11356


Lecturer: Svitlana Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155 Fax: 412-648-1793 E-mail: [email protected] Class meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 120 Lawrence Hall:

CRN11005 12:00-12:50pm CRN11356 1:00-1:50pm

Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-2:45 pm. Additional hours are available by appointment and must be scheduled at least a day in advance via e-mail. Communication I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota. Should you have any questions about this course, textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, e-mail your recitation instructor (my teaching assistant) (further in a text - TA) directly. The TA contact information is presented in table below.

Help The material of the course is highly cumulative. If you do not understand something, please seek help immediately. As the first step, read the chapter and visit your recitation instructor (TA) during his/her office hours. The TAs will clarify lecture material. They will also help you to develop problem-solving skills required to complete homework assignments and perform well during exams. If after a consultation with my TAs you still do not feel solid with the course material, as the last resort, you are welcome to come to my office and talk about the gaps in theoretical material you experience.

Course Description


• What Microeconomics is about

TA E-mail Phone Office Ho-Ching Mak [email protected] 412-648-5312 Posvar 4520 Elena Smirnova [email protected] 412-648-2822 Posvar 4518 Conor Lennon [email protected] 412-648-1765 Posvar 4911 Katie Jo Black [email protected] 412-648-2822 Posvar 4518 Siying Liu [email protected] 412-648-7378 Posvar 4931








2

• The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity • Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,

monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopolistic markets • Factor markets • Externalities and public goods • Fundamentals of international trade



Required: Microeconomics (with Myeconlab website access code) by Michael Parkin, 10th ed, published by Pearson, copyright 2011. ISBN: 978-013-273-5308. The Myeconlab access code (valid for a semester) is required in order to access on-line homework assignments. The hardcopy textbook (with Myeconlab access code) is available in the bookstore. The e-version of the text is available through Myeconlab website. At this website, you can also purchase a new code separately from the text for extra fee. Recommended: 1. the Study Guide, 9th ed, by Mark Rush to accompany the text. Publisher: Pearson, copyright 2009,

ISBN: 0321-609-115. 2. the companion website for the text www.myeconlab.com gives access to practice quizzes, chapter

summaries, and answers to the end-of-chapter questions.

Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams


3

Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with one exception: if you notify me or the department secretary as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed. Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments. Use the access code (in your textbook) to register in my class at www.myeconlab.com. (Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb). The homework assignments are posted under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score (for the questions you missed, click on the link “try similar exercise”). After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. I recommend printing and reviewing assignments prior to exams. You are encouraged to study in groups, yet remember to submit the assignment on-line individually. In the very end of the course, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading








4

Course Calendar



2 Sept 3 Sept 5


3 Sept 10 Sept 12


4 Sept 17 Sept 19

Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 24 Sept 26


6 Oct 1 Oct 3

Overview Ch 1-6 Homework Assignments of Ch 1-6 are due at noon. Exam 1



8 Oct 15 Oct 17


9 Oct 22 Oct 24

Ch 13: Monopoly

10 Oct 29 Oct 31


11 Nov 5 Nov 7

Overview Ch 10-15 Homework Assignments Ch 10-15 are due at noon. Exam 2

12 Nov 12 Nov 14


13 Nov 19 Nov 21

Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods Thanksgiving recess (no classes)

14 Nov 26 Nov 28

Ch 17: Economics of the Environment Ch 18: Factor Markets

15 Dec 3 Dec 5

Ch 18: Factor Markets (cont) Homework Assignments Ch 7, 16-18 are due noon Overview Ch 7, 16-18

16 Sat, Dec 15 8:00-9:50am - final exam Room: TBA


CRN: 20122


Lecturer: Svitlana Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155 Fax: 412-648-1793 E-mail: [email protected] Class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00-11:50am at 121 Lawrence Hall. Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-2:45 pm. Additional hours are available by appointment and must be scheduled at least a day in advance via e-mail. Communication I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota. Should you have any questions about this course, textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, e-mail your recitation instructor (my teaching assistant)(further in a text- TA) directly. The TA contact information is presented in table below.


Course Description


• What Microeconomics is about • The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity

TA E-mail Phone Office Ho-Ching Mak [email protected] 412-648-5312 Posvar 4520 Elena Smirnova [email protected] 412-648-2822 Posvar 4518 Ray Miller [email protected] 412-648-7378 Posvar 4931






2

• Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,







Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with one exception: if you notify me or the department secretary as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior


3

to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed. Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments. Use the access code (in your textbook) to register in my class at www.myeconlab.com. (Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb). The homework assignments are posted under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score (for the questions you missed, click on the link “try similar exercise”). After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. I recommend printing and reviewing assignments prior to exams. You are encouraged to study in groups, yet remember to submit the assignment on-line individually. In the very end of the course, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading








4

Course Calendar



2 Sept 4 Sept 6

Ch 2: Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) Gains from Trade and Comparative Advantage

3 Sept 11 Sept 13


4 Sept 18 Sept 20

Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 25 Sept 27


6 Oct 2 Oct 4


7 Oct 9 Oct 11

No class Ch 10: Organizing Production. Ch 11: Output and Costs

8 Oct 16 Oct 18


9 Oct 23 Oct 25

Ch 13: Monopoly

10 Oct 30 Nov 1


11 Nov 6 Nov 8


12 Nov 13 Nov 15


13 Nov 20 Nov 22


14 Nov 27 Nov 29


15 Dec 4 Dec 6




CRN: 11005, 11356


Lecturer: Svitlana Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155 Fax: 412-648-1793 E-mail: [email protected] Class meets Mondays and Wednesdays at 120 Lawrence Hall:

CRN11005 12:00-12:50pm CRN11356 1:00-1:50pm

Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-2:45 pm. Additional hours are available by appointment and must be scheduled at least a day in advance via e-mail. Communication I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota. Should you have any questions about this course, textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, e-mail your recitation instructor (my teaching assistant) (further in a text - TA) directly. The TA contact information is presented in table below.


Course Description


• What Microeconomics is about

TA E-mail Phone Office Ho-Ching Mak [email protected] 412-648-5312 Posvar 4520 Elena Smirnova [email protected] 412-648-2822 Posvar 4518 Conor Lennon [email protected] 412-648-1765 Posvar 4911 Katie Jo Black [email protected] 412-648-2822 Posvar 4518 Siying Liu [email protected] 412-648-7378 Posvar 4931








2

• The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity • Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,







Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams


3

Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with one exception: if you notify me or the department secretary as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed. Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments. Use the access code (in your textbook) to register in my class at www.myeconlab.com. (Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb). The homework assignments are posted under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score (for the questions you missed, click on the link “try similar exercise”). After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. I recommend printing and reviewing assignments prior to exams. You are encouraged to study in groups, yet remember to submit the assignment on-line individually. In the very end of the course, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading








4

Course Calendar



2 Sept 3 Sept 5


3 Sept 10 Sept 12


4 Sept 17 Sept 19

Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 24 Sept 26


6 Oct 1 Oct 3




8 Oct 15 Oct 17


9 Oct 22 Oct 24

Ch 13: Monopoly

10 Oct 29 Oct 31


11 Nov 5 Nov 7


12 Nov 12 Nov 14


13 Nov 19 Nov 21


14 Nov 26 Nov 28


15 Dec 3 Dec 5



Course SyllabusIntro to Microeconomic Theory

University of Pittsburgh Professor: Ahmad ShahidiIntro to Micro-ECON 0100 [email protected] (email)Spring Semester 2013

1 General Information

• Instructor: Ahmad Shahidi.

– Email: [email protected]

• Location and Time: Please pay attention to the time and location and try your best not to belate.

Days Class time Location Date Range

W 6:00-8:25 pm CL 242 Jan. 7, 2013 to April 27, 2013

• Text Book: The required text book for this course isMankiw, Gregory, Principles of Microeconomics Thomson Southwestern, 6th Edition (Fifth ed is okayas well). (available at campus bookstore, or half.com, amazon.com, eBay, etc.)

• Office Hours:

– W: 5:00-6:00 pm

– Also by appointment.

• Attendance Policy: You should do your best to attend all the sessions of this course. I reserve theright to check students attendance. If you are missing too many classes, this will reflect itself in yourclass activity score. that Please do not be late as this will interrupt the class every time anew latecomer enters the classroom.

• Laboratory Exercises: This course does not require a seperate lab.

2 Course Description

Microeconomics is the study of how individual consumers and businesses make decisions and interact inmarkets, of how markets operate, and the welfare consequence of markets when then operate well andwhen they dont operate so well. Microeconomic policy issues of international trade, monopolies, pollution,and labor markets will be treated.

There are no specific course prerequisites; students are however expected to have a basic backgroundin high-school algebra. If you can handle the appendix to chapter one,you should have little difficultywith the algebraic and graphical tools we will be using. The following web-site (http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/Algebra.html) dealing with basic algebra and graphs is an excellent source for reviewmaterial.

3 Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are

http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/Algebra.html

http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/Algebra.html

1. to familiarize the student with the basic concepts and methods of microeconomics opportunity cost,comparative advantage, supply and demand, cost-benefit analysis and the logic of marginalism.

2. to enable the student to apply these concepts and methods to policy issues . One important set ofpolicy issues is whether, when and how markets may fail and whether, when they fail, governmentintervention may be needed to correct those failures.

3. to lay the groundwork for future study for the study of macroeconomic issues such as unemployment,inflation and long-run economic growth; and more generally for such courses as managerial account-ing and management decision-making, as well as economics courses in finance, labor, internationaleconomics and managerial economics, which require mastery of basic microeconomic concepts.

4 Course Assessment

• Examinations: 70% of final grade.

– First Midterm 15%

– Second Midterm 15%

– Final 40%

• On-Line quizzes: 30% of final grade

Grade A B C D F

Total score earned 100-90 89-80 79-70 69-60 less than 59

5 Course Format

Students are expected to read assignments in advance and be ready to participate in class discussion.Lectures are used to address concepts students identify as not clearly understood by them.

6 Disclaimer

The University and/or instructor reserve the right to amend any dates, topics, assignments or other plannedfeatures of the proposed schedule. Any schedule change(s) will be announced. Students are expected tobe aware of these changes, and it is the responsibility of absent students to obtain this information.

7 Disability Statement

If you have a disability for which you are or will be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged tocontact both your instructor, and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union,(412) 648-7890 / (412) 383-7355 (TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disabilityand determine appropriate accommodations for this course.

8 Academic Integrity Statement

Cheating/Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the University of PittsburghPolicy on Academic Integrity, as stated in the February 1974 Senate Committee on Tenure and AcademicFreedom, will be required to participate in the outlined procedural process as initiated by the instructor.A minimum sanction of a zero score for the quiz, homework, or exam will be imposed.

Econ 100: Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

University of Pittsburgh Spring 2013

Course Information

Instructor: Dr. Erin Kaplan Class Times: M/W 11:00 – 11:50 Email: [email protected] Location: Lawrence Hall 121 Office Hours: Tues. 1:30 – 2:30pm Office: Posvar Hall 4918A

Thurs. 2:30 – 3:30pm Or by appointment

Teaching Assistants:

Name: Quixin (Angelo) He Name: Siying Liu Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Office: Posvar Hall 4909 Office: Posvar Hall 4522 Office Hours: Thurs. 2:45 – 4:45pm Office Hours: TBD

Or by appointment Or by appointment

Course Description: This course applies economic reasoning to the decisions of both consumers and producers and examines the consequences of those decisions for society as a whole. Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of the semester students who successfully complete this course will be able to 1. Explain the economic behavior of individual consumers and individual firms. 2. Apply the principles of supply and demand to determine prices and identify the factors

that affect supply and demand in goods markets, labor markets, and financial capital markets.

3. Describe and distinguish between various market structures such as perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.

4. Understand various forms of market failure and the policy options available to correct for market failures.

Course Materials:

• i>Clicker 1st Generation – Required • Principles of Microeconomics 2nd Ed. By Timothy Taylor – Required • Study Guide featuring Problems & Solutions – Recommended • CourseWeb – All assignments and announcements will be posted on CourseWeb, so

please check the course page frequently.

Course Policies Attendance: Attendance in both lecture and recitation is highly recommended, and participation through use of clickers will factor directly into your grade (see below). If absent, you are responsible for obtaining any material discussed or handed out. Office Hours: Students are strongly encouraged to attend office hours. The material covered in this course is often challenging, and students should consider office hours an additional resource to aid in their understanding. If you are unable to attend my scheduled office hours or those of your TA, please contact us to schedule another time to meet. Cheating and Academic Misconduct Academic misconduct includes the following examples as well as any other similar conduct which is aimed at falsely representing a student's academic performance: cheating, plagiarizing, unauthorized collaborating on course work, stealing course examinations or materials, falsifying records or data, or intentionally assisting another individual in any of the above. If you are caught cheating on an exam or an assignment, you will receive a zero on the exam or assignment. In addition, the event will be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs and may lead additional actions from the University. Use of Cell Phones: The use of cell phones during lectures is a disrespectful distraction to your instructor and other classmates. Please turn your cell phone while you are in class. In emergency situations, please discuss limited use of cell phone with me prior to the class during which you would like to use your cell phone. Students are NOT allowed to use cell phones or any internet capable devices during exams. Email: In general, email is the best way to get in contact with me. However, if you send me an email within 24 hours of an exam or homework deadline, don't expect me to respond before the exam/due date. Disability Services: If you have a disability, contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890/412-383-7355 (TTY) as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

Course Grades Participation (5%) This portion of your grade will come from participation during lectures using your i>clicker. In order to get credit you will need to register your clicker online at www.iclicker.com/registration/. (For more information see the course materials handout.) I will start collecting grades for participation on Monday, January 14th. You can earn 5 points during each lecture using your i>clicker - 4 points just for answering the questions and 1 point for answering the questions correctly. Discussion Questions (10%) Throughout the semester, I will post various articles on CourseWeb that are related to the lecture material, along with some basic questions about the articles. You are encouraged to read all of the articles, but you are required to turn in the posted discussion questions for 5 of the topics in your recitation section the week that they are assigned. You must attend class in order to receive credit for this assignment. Your answers should be short and concise, your own work, and typed. These questions are meant to help you think critically about the articles prior to recitation, so that you are able to effectively participate in the discussion. Homework (20%) There will be 11 problem sets, each designed to help you practice applying the economic methods taught in class to specific problems. Each assignment will be posted on CourseWeb at least 1 week prior to the due date, and must be submitted online by 5pm EST on Friday the week that it is due. Students may choose to work in groups on the problem sets; however, each student is individually responsible for completing and turning in the assigned work. I will drop the assignment with the lowest score, and consequently no late work will be accepted. Midterm Exams (40%) There will be two multiple choice midterm exams, and each exam will be worth 20% of your grade. The first exam is tentatively scheduled for February 18th, and the second exam is scheduled for March 25th. There will be no make up exams. Final Exam (25%) The final exam will be held on Wednesday, April 24th from 12:00 – 1:50pm, as scheduled by the Registrar’s Office. The final exam will be cumulative.

http://www.iclicker.com/registration/

Tentative Schedule

Lectures Readings Assignments Week Date Topic Ch. Pages Homework Discussion

1 Jan. 7 No Class: Out of Town Jan. 9 The Interconnected Economy 1 1-11

2 Jan. 14 Choice in a World of Scarcity 2 15-26 HW1 Due Topic 1

Jan. 16 2 26-36

3 Jan. 21 No Class: Martin Luther King Jr. Day HW2 Due Topic 2 Jan. 23 Interpersonal and International Trade 3 39-52, 57

4 Jan. 28 Demand and Supply 4 59-74 HW3 Due Topic 3 Jan. 30 4 74-84

5 Feb. 4 Elasticity 7 127-137 HW4 Due Topic 4 Feb. 6 7 137-145

6 Feb. 11

Household Decision Making 8 149-159

HW5 Due Topic 5 Feb. 13 8 159-167

7 Feb. 18 Exam 1 Feb. 20 Cost and Industry Structure 9 169-184

8 Feb. 25 Competition 10 187-196 HW6 Due Topic 6 Feb. 27 10 196-205

9 Mar. 4 Monopoly 11 209-222 HW7 Due Topic 7 Mar. 6 Monopoly - Handout

10 Mar. 11 No Class: Spring Break Mar. 13 No Class: Spring Break

11 Mar. 18 Monopolistic Competition 12 225-233 HW8 Due Topic 8 Mar. 20 Oligopoly 12 233-238

12 Mar. 25 Exam 2 13 Mar. 27 Negative Externalities 14 259-268

13 Apr. 1 Positive Externalities 15 275-288 HW9 Due Topic 9 Apr. 3 Poverty and Economic Inequality 16 291-309

14 Apr. 8 Labor Markets 5 87-94 HW10 Due Topic 10 Apr. 10 Issues in Labor Markets 17 311-328

15 Apr. 15 Risk, Uncertainty, and Insurance 18 331-344 HW11 Due Apr. 17 Review

Apr. 24 Final Exam: 12:00-1:50


Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 11-12, W 10-11 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available on the Course Documents content area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet will be provided during the term. The paper will be due by 5 pm on April 1. Recitations: The best way to learn the principles of economics is to actively use them by solving problems that both test and extend your understanding. In addition to the graded homework sets the Course Outline & Review Sheet in the Course Documents content area on CourseWeb also contains problem sets that I highly recommend that you complete and will be used in developing questions for the exams. The problem sets will not be collected and graded so your main source of feedback on them will be provided in recitations. Your TA will discuss answers to the problem sets and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve the problems. But, you should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are ready to solve the same kinds of problems on an exam. The only way to acquire this ability is to attempt the problems before you see the answers. But if you cannot solve the problem before recitation; you should return to it after recitation and make sure that you can solve it on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet also reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams.




1 Jan 7 9


Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Jan 14 16


Ch 2 Ch 3

HW1 complete by Jan 21, 10 am

3 Jan 21 23

Martin Luther King Birthday observance – no class Gains from Trade and Economic Efficiency

Ch 4


4 Jan 28 30

Government Policies: Price and Quantity Controls Elasticity and Its Applications

Ch 5 Ch 6

HW3 complete by Feb 4, 10 am

5 Feb 4 6

Taxes Ch 7


6 Feb 11 13

Review EXAM 1, FEBRUARY 13


7 Feb 18 20

Marginal Analysis and Making Decisions at the Margin Production and Cost Theory

Ch 9 Ch 11


8 Feb 25 27

Perfect Competition Ch 12 HW6 complete by Mar 4, 10 am

9 Mar 4 6

Monopoly Markets Monopolistically Competitive Markets

Ch 13 Ch 15

HW7 complete by Mar 19, 10 am

10 Spring Break Week

11 Mar 18 20

Review EXAM 2, MARCH 20


12 Mar 25 27

International Trade and Trade Protection

Ch 8 HW9 complete by Apr 1, 10 am

13 Apr 1 3

Externalities Ch 16

HW10 complete Apr 8, 10 am

14 Apr 8 10

Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics Welfare State Economics

Ch 17 Ch 18

HW11 complete by Apr 17, 10 am

15 Apr 15 17


Ch 19

FINAL EXAM, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 12-1:50 PM University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

Syllabus for Introduction to Microeconomic TheorySummer 2013: M/W 11-1:15 WWPH 4900

Objective:

The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of economic concepts such as opportunity cost, comparative advantage, elasticity, and externalities. Students will learn how to depict a variety of economic scenarios with models. These models will allow for an intuitive understanding of how markets work, the implications of government policy, and the behavior of firms.

Textbook:The textbook we will using is the 3rd edition of “Microeconomics” by Krugman and Wells; however, the concepts covered in this class are not unique to this textbook and the homework assignments do not require access to the book. As a result, earlier editions or other textbooks can be used as a substitute. I recommend “Principles of Microeconomics” by Mankiw or “Microeconomics” by Hubbard and O’Brien.

Grading:

• 30% - Homework

• 35% - Midterm

• 35% - FinalHomework: There will be a total of eight assignments (one assignment for each lecture). Each assignment must be completed on Courseweb (courseweb.pitt.edu). You will have seven days, starting at 11am on the day of the lecture, to complete each assignment. For example, assignment one (covering chapters one and two) will be available from 11am on June 24th until 11am on July 1. I will not accept late assignments, but will instead drop everyone’s lowest homework score. No further exceptions will be made.

Tests: Each test will be administered in class on the dates specified below. Make-up tests are only possible under special circumstances and only if you contact me at least seven days before the scheduled test. Under extreme circumstances (car accident, imprisonment, health related) a doctor’s and/or sheriff’s note can be substituted for seven days notice.

Recitations:

Recitations will be held on Mondays from 1:30-2:45 in Posvar 4900. The best way to learn the principles of economics is to use them! In recitation, your TA will set up and solve different types of problems. The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is not proof that you are ready for the exam. If you cannot solve the problem before recitation, you should return to it after recitation and make sure that you can solve it on your own.

Professor: Brian BeachOffice: Posvar 4523Office Hours: TH 10-12 or by appointmentEmail: [email protected]

TA:! Siying LiuOffice Hours: Tuesday 1-3 Posvar 4524Email: [email protected]





University Policies:

This class will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity, Student and Faculty Obligations, and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details.

The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 140 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

Tentative Course Schedule:

Week Date Topic Reading1 6/24/13 Core Principles Ch. 1 and 21 6/26/13 Supply and Demand, Surplus, and Price Controls Ch. 3, 4, and 52 7/1/13 Elasticity and Taxes Ch. 6 and 72 7/3/13 International Trade, Rational Choice, and Review Ch. 8 and 93 7/8/13 No Class3 7/10/13 Midterm4 7/15/13 Rational Decision Making and Production Ch. 10 and 114 7/17/13 Perfect Competition, Monopoly and Monopolistic Competition Ch. 12, 13, and 155 7/22/13 Oligopoly, Externalities, and Public Goods Ch. 14, 16, and 175 7/24/13 Factor Markets and Uncertainty Ch. 19 and 206 7/29/13 Review6 7/31/13 Final Exam

http://www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html



Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 2:30-3:30, W 2:30-3:30 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. An answer key will be available on CourseWeb shortly after the assignment is due. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet is available on the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. Recitations: The purpose of recitation is to go over problems and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the lecture setting. Of course, questions are welcome during lecture. In addition to the graded online homework sets discussed above there will be weekly problem sets available in the Recitation area on CourseWeb. The best way to learn the principles of economics (and earn an A in this class) is to solve problems that both test and extend your understanding. These problems will not count toward your course grade, but you should complete all the assigned problems as they will help you understand and master the class material. Your TA will provide answers to the problem sets in recitation and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. These questions will be used in developing questions for the exams. You should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are able to correctly answer the same kinds of problems on an exam. After attending recitation make sure that you can solve the problems correctly on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. The Course Outline & Review Sheet is available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb.




1 Aug 27 29


Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Sept 3 Sept 5


Ch 2 Ch 3


3 Sept 10 12


Ch 4 Ch 5


4 Sept 17 19



5 Sept 24 26

Taxes Ch 7


6 Oct 1 Oct 3



7 Oct 8 10

Marginal Analysis and Making Decisions at the Margin Behind the Supply Curve

Ch 9 Ch 11


8 Oct 15 17

FALL BREAK – NO TUESDAY CLASS Perfect Competition

Ch 12 (p. 345-360)


9 Oct 22 24


Ch 12 (p. 360-367) Ch 13


10 Oct 29 31


Ch 15 Ch 14

HW8 complete by Nov 5, 10 am

11 Nov 5 7



12 Nov 12 14

International Trade

Ch 8 HW9 complete by Nov 19, 10 am

13 Nov 19 21

Externalities

Ch 16

HW10 complete Nov 26, 10 am

14 Nov 26 28

Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics THANKSGIVING BREAK

Ch 17 HW11 complete by Dec 5, 10 am

15 Dec 3 5


Ch 19

FINAL EXAM, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 12:00-1:50 PM University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.


Econ 0100: Introduction to Microeconomic Theory (CN: 19379)

Course Syllabus

Lecturer: Soiliou Daw Namoro [email protected] 412-648- 2242 Posvar 4529 Fax: 412-648-1793 Class meets Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 AM-11:50 AM. Office Hours: Thursday 1:00pm – 2:00PM

Teaching Assistants (TAs): Mak, Angela [email protected] 412-648-5312 Posvar 4520

Lame Sureda, Diego [email protected] 412-648-1795 Posvar 4512

Communication I will use the CourseWeb (to be found at www.courseweb.pitt.edu) to make announcements pertaining to the course, as well as to report grades, and changes that may occur in the course calendar.

Learning strategy The material is highly cumulative. Students should seek help as soon as they experience difficulties understanding a lecture or the course material. If you find yourself in that situation, the first step to take is to identify the part of the corresponding chapter that you do not understand. The second step is to go to the TA’s office hour to receive explanations. This should put you (back) on track and enhance the problem-solving skills that you need to complete the homework assignment and to be successful in taking the required exams.

Course Description This is, as indicated in its title, an introductory course in microeconomics. Upon its completion, the student will be prepared to take on more advanced levels of microeconomics. More specifically, students sitting in this course will understand

− The principles of economics, how economists think and the motivations behind people’s willingness to trade.

− The working of markets and its interference with government policy. − How markets determines the welfare of their participants, with the related concept of efficiency. − How production or consumption of some goods can generate so-called externalities and how

economists think about these goods, which the refer to as public goods or common resources. − Different structures that markets can have (competitive market , monopoly, Monopolistic

Competition, Oligopoly) and their welfare implications.




− The market for factors of production, in particular of labor.

Prerequisites Students who will take this course are expected to have a good grasping of basic algebra and geometry. In particular, they must be familiar with graphing, equations of straight lines and their graphic representations.

Textbook The course will be based on the book Principles of Microeconomics by N. Gregory Mankiw, 6-th edition, ISBN: 978-0538453042, 2012. This book is edited by Cengage-Learning , which also hosts a webpage that offers students online learning materials at cost.

Assignments Homework assignments will be given each week. You are encouraged to study in group. Be aware, however, that each student has to submit his or her copy individually. Late assignments are not accepted.

Grading Course and recitation attendance is mandatory. There is no curving of grades. The final grade is made of homework assignments (25%), and 3 exams (25% each) . The overall letter grades are determined according to the following scale: 90-100: A-, A, A+ (A range) 80-89: B-, B, B+ (B range) 70-79: C-, C, C+ (C range) 60-69: D-, D, D+ (D range)

Academic integrity

It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of the University of Pittsburgh's policy and student obligations regarding academic integrity. This information is available at the address

http://www.bc.pitt.edu/policies/policy/02/02-03-02.html

Students with disabilities

Students who have disabilities for which they want to request accommodations are encouraged to contact me and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890/412-383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and Services will verify each student's disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

Course outline and Calendar

Week Date Topic 1 Aug. 27

Aug. 29 Introduction Ch 1: Ten Principles of Economics


2 Sept. 3 Sept. 5

Ch 2:Thinking like an Economist Thinking like an Economist (cont)

3 Sept. 10 Sept. 12

Ch3: Interdependence and the Gains to Trade Interdependence and the Gains to Trade (cont)

4 Sept. 17 Sept. 19

Ch4: The market Forces of Supply and Demand The market Forces of Supply and Demand (cont)

5 Sept. 24 Sept. 26

Ch5: Elasticity and Its Application Elasticity and Its Application (cont)

6 Oct. 1 Oct. 3

Ch6: Supply, Demand, and Government Policies Supply, Demand, and Government Policies (cont)

7 Oct. 8 Oct. 10

Overview of Ch 1-6 Exam 1

8 Oct. 15 Oct. 17

Monday Classes are meeting. No class that day. Ch7: Consumers, producers, and the Efficiency of Markets

9 Oct. 22 Oct. 24

Consumers, producers, and the Efficiency of Markets (cont) Ch8: Application: The Cost of Taxation

10 Oct. 29 Oct. 31

Ch9: Application: International Trade Ch10: Externalities

11 Nov. 5 Nov. 7

Ch11: Public Goods and Common Resources Ch 13: The Costs of Production

12 Nov. 12 Nov. 14

Overview of Ch 7-11, 13 Exam 2

13 Nov. 19 Nov. 21

Ch14: Firms in competitive Markets Ch15: Monopolies

14 Nov. 26 Nov. 28

Ch16: Monopolistic Competition Ch17: Oligopoly

15 Dec. 3 Dec. 5

Ch18: The Markets for the Factors of Production Overview of Ch 15-18

Week of finals Tue, Dec. 10 Final Exam (12:00pm-1:50pm)


CRN: 10976


Lecturer: Svitlana Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155 Fax: 412-648-1793 Teaching assistants (TAs): Conor Lennon Office: 4911 Posvar 412-648-1765 [email protected]

Eric Duerr Office: Posvar 4911 412-648-1765 [email protected]

Justin Stewart Office: Posvar 4515 412-648-1744 [email protected]

Class meets Mondays and Wednesdays in 120 Lawrence Hall:

CRN 10976 12:00-12:50pm CRN 11303 1:00-1:50pm

Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00-2:45 pm. Additional hours are available by appointment and must be scheduled at least a day in advance via e-mail. Communication I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota. Should you have any questions about this course, textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, e-mail your recitation TA directly. The TA contact information is above. Help The material of the course is highly cumulative. If you do not understand something, please seek help immediately. As the first step, read the chapter and visit your recitation instructor (TA) during his/her office hours. The TAs will clarify lecture material. They will also help you to develop problem-solving skills required to complete homework assignments and to perform well during exams. If after a consultation with my TAs you still do not feel solid with the course material, as the last resort, you are welcome to come to my office and talk about the gaps in theoretical material you experience.

Course Description


• What Microeconomics is about • The economic problem and efficiency





2

• Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity • Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,




Required: Microeconomics (with Myeconlab website access code) by Michael Parkin, 11th ed, published by Pearson, copyright 2013, ISBN: 9780133423907. The Myeconlab access code (valid for a semester) is required in order to access on-line homework assignments. This website code also gives access to sample quizzes, chapter summaries, and answers to the end-of-chapter questions. The hardcopy 11e textbook (packaged with Myeconlab access code) is available in the bookstore. If you prefer e-version of the text, it is available for purchase through Myeconlab website. At this website, you can also purchase a new access code separately from the text, in case you own a used or older edition textbook.

Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with one exception: if you notify me or the department secretary as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior

3

to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed. Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments posted on Myeconlab website. Use the access code (packaged with your textbook) to register at www.myeconlab.com. Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb. The homework assignments are under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score. For the questions you missed, click on the tab “try similar exercise” and the system will generate you another question to practice. After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. You are encouraged to study in groups, however each student has to submit the assignment on-line individually. During the week of final exams, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading





• a student fails the class if a so determined course score is below 60 • the letter graded are assigned on the following scale:

90-100 A-, A, A+ 80-89 B-, B, B+ 70-79 C-, C, C+ 60-69 D-, D, D+

Course Calendar




4

2 Sept 2 Sept 4

Labor day (University closed) Ch 2: Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF)

3 Sept 9 Sept 11

Application of PPF: Comparative Advantage and Gains from Trade Ch 3: Demand and Supply

4 Sept 16 Sept 18

Market Equilibrium Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 23 Sept 25

Elasticity (cont) Ch 5: Economic Efficiency

6 Sept 30 Oct 2

Ch 6: Government Actions in Markets

7 Oct 7 Oct 9




9 Oct 21 Oct 23


10 Oct 28 Oct 30

Ch 13: Monopoly

11 Nov 4 Nov 6


12 Nov 11 Nov 13


13 Nov 18 Nov 20


14 Nov 25 Nov 27


15 Dec 2 Dec 4

Ch 17: Economics of the Environment Homework Assignments Ch 7, 16-17 are due noon Overview Ch 7, 16-17

Week of finals

Tue, Dec 10 12:00-1:50pm - final exam


Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 1-2, W 11-12 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available on the Course Documents content area of CourseWeb. Homework: Eight of the ten homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. The multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week are available in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are selected to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet is available on CourseWeb. The paper will be due by 5 pm on April 4. Recitations: The purpose of recitation is to go over problems and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the lecture setting. Of course, questions are welcome during lecture. In addition to the graded online homework sets mentioned above there will be weekly problem sets available in the Recitation area on CourseWeb. The best way to learn the principles of economics is to solve problems that both test and extend your understanding. These problems do not count toward your course grade, but you should complete all the assigned problems as they will help you understand and master the class material. Your TA will provide answers to the problem sets in recitation and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve the problems. You should try to answer the questions before attending recitation, and then attend recitation to confirm that you have answered the problems correctly. If you could not answer the questions before hand or incorrectly answered them, your TA will clear up any questions you have. But be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are ready to solve the same kinds of problems on an exam. So you should return to the problem set after recitation and make sure that you can now solve the questions on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet also reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. The Course Outline & Review Sheet is available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb.




1 Jan 6 8


Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Jan 13 15


Ch 2 Ch 3


3 Jan 20 22

Martin Luther King Birthday observance – no class Gains from Trade and Economic Efficiency

Ch 4


4 Jan 27 29

Government Policies: Price and Quantity Controls Elasticity and Its Applications

Ch 5 Ch 6


5 Feb 3 5

Taxes Ch 7


6 Feb 10 12



7 Feb 17 19


Ch 9 Ch 11


8 Feb 24 26


9 Mar 3 5


Ch 13 Ch 15


10 Mar 9-16 Spring Break Week

11 Mar 17 19



12 Mar 24 26


Ch 8 HW8 complete by Mar 31, 10 am

13 Mar 31 Apr 2

Factor Markets and Income Distribution Ch 19


14 Apr 7 9

Externalities Ch 16


15 Apr 14 16

Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics Review

Ch 17

FINAL EXAM, FRIDAY, APRIL 25 10-11:50 AM University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

Syllabus for Introduction to Microeconomic Theory!Summer 2014: M/W 11-1:15 WWPH 4900!

Objective:!The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of economic concepts such as opportunity cost, comparative advantage, elasticity, and externalities. Students will learn how to depict a variety of economic scenarios with models. These models will allow for an intuitive understanding of how markets work, the implications of government policy, and the behavior of firms.!!Textbook:!The textbook we will use is the 3rd edition of “Microeconomics” by Krugman and Wells; however, the concepts covered in this class are not unique to this textbook and the homework assignments do not require access to the book. As a result, earlier editions or other textbooks can be used as a substitute. I recommend “Principles of Microeconomics” by Mankiw or “Microeconomics” by Hubbard and O’Brien.!!Grading:!

• 30% - Homework!• 35% - Midterm!• 35% - Final!!

Homework: There will be a total of eight assignments (one assignment for each lecture). Each assignment must be completed on Courseweb (courseweb.pitt.edu) and will be available for seven days. For example, assignment one will be available from 1pm on June 23rd until 1pm on June 30th. The goal of these assignments is to reinforce the concepts learned in class. Accordingly, assignments can be completed as many times as desired, and I will only keep your highest score. Because this design provides the time and opportunity for you to receive the grade you desire, late assignments will not be accepted.!!Tests: Each test will be administered in class on the dates specified below. Make-up tests are only possible under special circumstances and only if you contact me at least seven days before the test. Under extreme circumstances (car accident, imprisonment, health related) a doctor’s and/or sheriff’s note can be substituted for seven days notice.!!Recitations:!Recitations will be held on Mondays from 1:30-2:50 in Posvar 4900. The best way to learn the principles of economics is to use them! In recitation, your TA will set up and solve different types of problems. The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is not proof that you are ready for the exam. If you cannot solve the problem before recitation, you should return to it after recitation and make sure that you can solve it on your own.!

Professor: Brian Beach!Office: Posvar 4523!Office Hours: M/W 10-11 or by appointment!Email: [email protected]

TA:! Yingjun Su!Office:! ! Posvar 4910!Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:30-11:30!Email: [email protected]


http://courseweb.pitt.edu




University Policies:!This class will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity, Student and Faculty Obligations, and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details.!

The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 140 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.!

Tentative Course Schedule:!

!

Week Date Topic Reading1 6/23 Core Principles Ch. 1 and 21 6/25 Supply and Demand, Surplus, and Price Controls Ch. 3, 4, and 52 6/30 Elasticity and Taxes Ch. 6 and 72 7/2 International Trade and Rational Choice Ch. 8 and 93 7/7 Review3 7/9 Midterm4 7/14 Rational Decision Making and Production Ch. 10 and 114 7/16 Perfect Competition, Monopoly and Monopolistic Competition Ch. 12, 13, and 155 7/21 Oligopoly, Externalities, and Public Goods Ch. 14, 16, and 175 7/23 Factor Markets and Uncertainty Ch. 19 and 206 7/28 Review6 7/30 Final Exam


Introduction to Microeconomic Theory (Econ 0100) TuTh 11:00-13:15

Summer 2014 (6-week 1) 4716 W.W. Posvar Hall

Instructor

Lily Ling Yang [email protected] Office: 4520 W.W. Posvar Hall Office Hours: Th 15:00-17:00

Teaching Assistant

Zeynep Kabukcuoglu [email protected] Office: 4923 W.W. Posvar Hall Office Hours: M 15:00-17:00

Recitation: Tu 13:30-14:55

Course Description

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of microeconomics. The emphasis in this course is on reasoning and understanding rather than memorizing. After completing this course students will be able

to understand consumer and firm behaviors; to analyze different types of market structures; and to use

basic economic principles to analyze economic policies.

Textbook

Microeconomics, 3

rd Edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers

Lectures will not strictly follow this text (or any other). All homeworks, assignments, exams, and graded

material will come from material covered in lecture.

Homework, Exams, and Grading:

There will be two examinations in this course, one midterm and a final examination. In addition there will

be five homework assignments. Your grade for the course will be determined as follows:

Homework Assignments 25% Midterm Examination 25%

Final Examination 50%

Miscellany:

Students with disabilities are responsible for notifying me at the start of a course and for requesting accommodations for that disability.

All students are expected to abide by the University of Pittsburgh's policy on academic integrity. Please

familiarize yourself with this policy if you have not already done so.

I will provide make-up examinations only to those who missed an examination because of an unforeseen

event, e.g. a medical emergency, the death of a family member, etc. Written confirmation will be required. Poorly made travel arrangements do not qualify. Late homeworks are not accepted. There is no

extra credit.



Tentative Topics and Schedule

13 Introduction

Ch. 1

15 Supply & Demand

Ch. 3

HW 1

20 Market & Welfare

Ch. 4 & 5

HW 1 Due

22 Elasticity & Taxes

Ch. 6 & 7

HW 2

27 Topic I: International Trade

Ch. 2 &8

HW 2 Due

29 Economic Decisions I

Ch. 9, MIDTERM

HW 3

3 Economic Decisions II

Ch. 10

HW 3 Due

5 Economic Decisions III

Ch. 11

HW 4

10 Market Structure

Ch. 12 & 13

HW 4 Due

12 Topic II: Externalities

Ch. 16 & 17

HW 5

17 Topic III: Uncertainty

Ch. 20 & Review HW 5 Due

19 Final Exam

ECON 0100 - Summer 2014

Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

Instructor: Yang Song E-mail: [email protected]

Office: 4522 Posvar Hall Office Phone: (412)-648-5717

Lectures: Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:00am - 1:15pm, 4940 Posvar Hall

Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Teaching Assistant: Eric Duerr E-mail: [email protected]

Recitations: Mondays, 1:30pm-2:55pm, 4940 Posvar Hall

Office Hours: TBD

Textbook:

Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers.

Course Grade:

Homework 20%; Essay 10%; Midterm 30%; Final exam 40%.

Homework sets with multiple-choice questions are to be completed on

CourseWeb. There will be four of them and each is worth 5% of the final grade.

They will be posted Wednesday after the lecture and due a week later. They are

designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture,

and prepare for exams. No late homework will be accepted.

Essay Assignment asks you to use a principle or principles from class to pose

and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally

observed. The essay assignment guideline is available on the Course Documents

area of CourseWeb. It describes the requirements. The essay is due at the

beginning of the last lecture, June 16th 11am. You can turn in the essay at any time

before the deadline. No late essay will be accepted.

Both midterm and final exams will be given in class. Time schedule is specified

on the next page. Both exams will have multiple choice questions and problem

solving questions. Final exam is accumulative. Alternative scheduling of the exams

will only be arranged in case of emergency and the student must provide

supporting documents.

University Policies:

We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the

University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic

Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures for full details

on this at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html. The Office of Disability Resources and

Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have

or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the

office as early as possible in the term.



Course Schedule

Week Date Topic Reading Homework

Due

Week 1

5.12 Mon

Introduction, Trade-Offs and

Comparative Advantage,

Production Possibility Frontier

Ch 1, 2 5.21 Wed

11:00am

5.14 Wed Supply and Demand,

Consumer and Producer Surplus Ch 3, 4

Week 2

5.19 Mon

Price Controls and Quotas,

Elasticity,

Tax

Ch 5, 6, 7 5.28 Wed

11:00am

5.21 Wed International Trade,

Review Ch 8

Week 3

5.26 Mon Memorial Day. No class.

5.28 Wed Midterm Exam

Week 4

6.2 Mon Decision Making,

Rational Choice Ch 9, 10

6.11 Wed

11:00am 6.4 Wed

Production,

Perfect Competition Ch 11, 12

Week 5

6.9 Mon Monopoly, Oligopoly,

Monopolistic Competition

Ch 13, 14,

15 6.18 Wed

11:00am

6.11 Wed Externality

Public Goods Ch 16, 17

Week 6

6.16 Mon Factor Market and Risk,

Review Ch 19, 20 Essay Due:

6.16 Mon

11:00am 6.18 Wed Final Exam


Lectures: 3415 WWPH MW 3:00 – 4:15 PM Office hours: 4916 Posvar Hall, MW 1:00 – 2:30 PM

Course description: This course is designed to introduce students to the principles of microeconomics. It focuses on the structure and functions of markets, by examining some of the basic economic decisions made by consumers and firms. Students may use this course as a gateway to a wide variety of applied economics courses and as a foundation for more advanced study. It also provides information that is basic to inquiry in many other disciplines. Course Web Site: The course website provides complete information concerning examinations and other important elements of the course. It is designed to assist you in organizing your work and keeping track of your progress in the course. Use it to good advantage:

http://courseweb.pitt.edu Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, Seventh Edition or Sixth Edition (South-Western CENGAGE Learning). Prerequisites: The course presumes a good working knowledge of high-school algebra as well as the ability to understand and use graphs. See also Chapter 2, Appendix, Graphing: A Brief Review. Grading policy: Course grades are based on three examinations and scheduled quizzes for selected chapters, Examinations consist of fifty multiple choice questions and two analytical problems. Scheduled quizzes, which are offered on-line, consist of 10 True/False questions. The weights of exams and quizzes in the final course grade are as follows:


Exam 1 25 CH 1 – 6

Exam 2 25 CH 7 – 11

Exam 3 40 CH 13 – 19

Scheduled Quizzes 10 See course web site

Total 100

Please note that the weight of each exam in determining the final course grade is proportional to the number of lectures in the corresponding section of the course. See the course calendar. Make-up policy: Make-up exams are permitted only for documented illness or emergency. Scheduled quizzes are available on-line for one day only (24 hours), and make-ups for scheduled quizzes are not permitted. However, for purposes of computing final course grades, only the best five quiz (of seven) grades will be used in determining each student's weighted average. Homework: It is essential that students are adequately prepared for each lecture, and students are expected to read assigned material in preparation for class. In addition to this reading, recommended homework also includes the multiple-choice problems for each chapter that are available in the Homework content area of the course web site. The Homework content area also includes a set of problems that are drawn from the “Problems and Applications” section at the end of each chapter in the textbook. These problems are highly recommended because they often are used in developing questions for the examinations.



Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: W 2:30-3:30, TH 10:30-11:30 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 3rd edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. The answers will be available on CourseWeb shortly after the assignment is due. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet is available on the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. The paper is due by 5 pm on November 14. Recitations: The purpose of recitation is to go over problems and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the lecture setting. Of course, questions are welcome during lecture. In addition to the graded online homework sets discussed above there will be weekly problem sets available in the Recitation area on CourseWeb. The best way to learn the principles of economics (and get an A in this class) is to solve problems that both test and extend your understanding. These problems will not count toward your course grade directly, but you should complete all the assigned problems as they will help you understand and master the class material. Your TA will provide answers to the problem sets in recitation and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. These questions will be used in developing questions for the exams. You should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are able to correctly answer the same kinds of problems on an exam. After attending recitation make sure that you can solve the problems correctly on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. The Course Outline & Review Sheet is available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb.




1 Aug 26 28


Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Sept 2 Sept 4


Ch 2 Ch 3

HW1 complete by Sept 7, 10 pm

3 Sept 9 11


Ch 4 Ch 5


4 Sept 16 18



5 Sept 23 25

Taxes Ch 7


6 Sept 30 Oct 2

EXAM 1, SEPTEMBER 30 NO CLASS OCT 2 AND NO RECITATIONS THIS WEEK


7 Oct 7 9


Ch 9 Ch 11

HW5 complete by Oct 12, 10 pm

8 Oct 14 16


Ch 12 (p. 345-360)


9 Oct 21 23


Ch 12 (p. 360-367) Ch 13


10 Oct 28 30


Ch 15 Ch 14

HW8 complete by Nov 2, 10 pm

11 Nov 4 6



12 Nov 11 13

International Trade

Ch 8 HW9 complete by Nov 16, 10 pm

13 Nov 18 20

Externalities

Ch 16

HW10 complete Nov 23, 10 pm

14 Nov 25 27

Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics THANKSGIVING BREAK

Ch 17 HW11 complete by Dec 5, 10 pm

15 Dec 2 4


Ch 19

FINAL EXAM, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12 8:00-9:50 AM University Policies: We will adhere to the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences’ Academic Integrity Policy in this class. These policies and procedures are outlined at the following web site: www.as.pitt.edu/fac/policies/academic-integrity. The Office of Disability Resources and Services in the William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

University of Pittsburgh

Department of Economics


Course Syllabus

Lecturer: Soiliou Daw Namoro [email protected]

412-648- 2242 Posvar 4529

Fax: 412-648-1793

Class Days & Times Room Class Dates

ECON 0100-1400 (10868)

MoWe 9:00AM - 9:50AM

7th Fl Auditorium Alumni Hall

Aug 25, 2014-5-Dec-14

ECON 0100-1600 (11175)

MoWe 1:00PM - 1:50PM

7th Fl Auditorium Alumni Hall

Aug 25, 2014-5-Dec-14

Teaching Assistants (TAs): TBA

TAs’ names and office hours will be provided during or after the first day of class.

Communication

Although the course will use the Mindtap Interactive Online Courseware (see the textbook part), I will

also use the CourseWeb (to be found at www.courseweb.pitt.edu) to make announcements pertaining

to the course. Precisions about these announces will be provided as needed in class.

Course Description

This is, as indicated in its title, an introductory course in microeconomics. Upon its completion, the

student will be prepared to take on more advanced levels of microeconomics. More specifically,

students sitting in this course will understand

The principles of economics, how economists think and the motivations behind people’s

willingness to trade.

The working of markets and its interference with government policy.

How markets determine the welfare of their participants, with the related concept of efficiency.

How production or consumption of some goods can generate so-called externalities and how

economists think about these goods, which they refer to as public goods or common resources.

Different structures that markets can have (competitive market, monopoly, Monopolistic



The market for factors of production, in particular of labor.

Prerequisites

Students who will take this course are expected to have a good grasping of basic algebra and

geometry. In particular, they must be familiar with graphing, equations of straight lines and their

graphic representations.

Textbook

The required Material is the

Mindtap Interactive Online Courseware: Homework exercises, quizzes, study tools (it includes an

ebook). The e-book is the textbook for this class: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics

7/e.

You can also, for your own convenience, optionally acquire a bundle of the print text with Mindtap Access code.

Note, however, that having the print text is not necessary for success in the course.

The material can be picked up at the BookCenter or directly through the publisher

at: http://www.cengagebrain.com/micro/namoro

Assignments

At least one online homework assignment will be given each week. Be aware that waiting the last

minute to do the assignment may result in a bad performance. For each assignment, you have an

unlimited number of attempts, but with no feedback hints to your mistakes. The Mindtap system

gives you the possibility to review every concept and solve related problem. Learning to identify and

correct your own mistakes is part of the class duties. Your official score on each assignment is the

one you obtain on your last attempt. You are encouraged to study in group.

Grading

Course and recitation attendance is mandatory. There is no curving of grades. The final grade is

made of homework assignments (25%), and 3 exams (25% each). The overall letter grades are

determined according to the following scale:

90-100: A-, A, A+ (A range)

80-89: B-, B, B+ (B range)

70-79: C-, C, C+ (C range)

60-69: D-, D, D+ (D range)

Academic integrity

http://www.cengagebrain.com/micro/namoro

It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of the University of Pittsburgh's policy and student

obligations regarding academic integrity. This information is available at the address



Students who have disabilities for which they want to request accommodations are encouraged to

contact me and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-

7890/412-383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and Services will

verify each student's disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

Tentative Course outline and Calendar

Week Date Topic

1 Aug. 25 Aug. 27

Introduction Ch 1: Ten Principles of Economics

2 Sept. 1 Sept. 3

No class (Labor Day: University closd) Ch 2:Thinking like an Economist

3 Sept. 8 Sept. 10

Ch3: Interdependence and the Gains to Trade Interdependence and the Gains to Trade (cont)

4 Sept. 15 Sept. 17

Ch4: The market Forces of Supply and Demand The market Forces of Supply and Demand (cont)

5 Sept. 22 Sept. 24

Ch5: Elasticity and Its Application Elasticity and its Applications (cont.)

6 Sept. 29 Oct. 1

Ch6: Supply, Demand, and Government Policies Supply, Demand, and Government Policies (cont)

7 Oct. 6 Oct. 8

Overview of Ch 1-6 Exam 1*. No Cell Phone allowed. Only simple calculators are. Chapters 1-6.

8

Oct. 13 Fall break for student (No classes that day). Classes will be on the next day (Oct 14) Oct. 14 Ch7: Consumers, producers, and the Efficiency of Markets Oct. 15 Consumers, producers, and the Efficiency of Markets (cont)

9 Oct. 20 Oct. 22

Ch8: Application: The Cost of Taxation Ch9: Application: International Trade

10 Oct. 27 Ch10: Externalities


Oct. 29

Ch11: Public Goods and Common Resources

11 Nov. 3 Nov. 5

Ch 13: The Costs of Production Overview of Ch 7-11, 13

12 Nov. 10 Nov. 12

Exam 2*. No Cell Phone allowed. Only simple calculators are. Chapters 7-11 and 13. Ch14: Firms in competitive Markets

13 Nov. 17 Nov. 19

Ch15: Monopolies Ch16: Monopolistic Competition

14 Nov. 24

Ch17: Oligopoly

15 Dec. 1 Dec. 3

Ch18: The Markets for the Factors of Production Overview of Ch 14-18

Week of finals Final Exam *

None of the exams is cumulative. The final exam is not different from the previous two exams.

Only its duration will be longer. The final exam will be based solely on the material covered in

class after the second exam (but it has many more questions than exams 1 and 2).


CRN: 10891


Lecturer: Svitlana V Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155

Recitation Instructors (TAs):

Felipe Augusto de Araujo Office: Posvar 4513 Tel: 412-648-2825 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Tuesdays 2-5pm and Wednesdays 9am- 12pm

Angelo Qixin He Office: Posvar 4909 Tel: 412-648-1796 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Tuesdays 2-5pm and Thursdays 9am-12pm

Class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at Bellfield Auditorium 1:00-1:50pm Communication and Help Should you have any questions about this course, the textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, please contact your recitation instructor (TA) directly. Your TA is your primary contact and source of information in the course. The material of Microeconomics course is highly cumulative. If you do not understand something, please seek help immediately. As the first step, read the textbook carefully and visit your recitation instructor (TA) during his/her office hours. The TA will clarify lecture material, targeting it specifically for you. The TA will also help you to develop problem-solving skills required to complete homework assignments and to perform well during exams, on individual basis. If after consultations with TAs you still do not feel comfortable with the course material, feel free to come to my office and talk about the knowledge gaps you experience. My office hours during the Fall semester are Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:45pm. Additional hours are available by appointment. I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota.

Course Description This course introduces students to the theory of microeconomics. Upon completion of this course students will have a deep understanding of:

• What Microeconomics is about • The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity • Organization of production and costs




2

• Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,




Required: Microeconomics (with Myeconlab website access code) by Michael Parkin, 11th ed, published by Pearson, copyright 2013, ISBN: 9780133423907. The Myeconlab access code (valid for a semester and bundled with a brand new text) is required in order to access on-line homework assignments. The website also gives access to sample quizzes, chapter summaries, and answers to the end-of-chapter questions. The hardcopy 11e textbook (packaged with Myeconlab access code) is available in the bookstore. If you prefer e-version of the text, it is available for purchase through Myeconlab website. At this website, you can also purchase a new access code separately from the text, in case you own a used or older edition textbook.

Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with the only one exception: if you notify me or the TA as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed.

3

Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments posted on Myeconlab website. Use the access code (packaged with your textbook) to register at www.myeconlab.com. Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb. The homework assignments can be found under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score. For the questions you missed, click on the tab “try similar exercise” and the system will generate another similar question for you to practice. After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. You are encouraged to study in groups; however each student has to submit the assignment on-line individually. During the week of finals, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading

Attendance of lectures and recitations is required. Remember: missing classes will seriously compromise your performance in this course. Active participation in problem solving sessions during recitations and positive recommendations from my TAs will give you a chance to get a higher course grade if you end up on a border. There will be no curving. Your course grade will be computed with the following weights:

• Recitation participation 5 percent • Homework assignments 20 percent • Exam 1: 25 percent • Exam 2: 25 percent • Exam 3: 25 percent




90-100 A-, A, A+ 80-89 B-, B, B+ 70-79 C-, C, C+ 60-69 D-, D, D+


4

Course Calendar



2 Sept 2 Sept 4

Ch 2: Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) Application of PPF: Comparative Advantage and Gains from Trade

3 Sept 9 Sept 11

Ch 3: Demand and Supply

4 Sept 16 Sept 18

Ch 4: Elasticity

5 Sept 23 Sept 25

Ch 5: Economic Efficiency

6 Sept 30 Oct 2


7 Oct 7 Oct 9

Overview Ch 1-6 Homework Assignments of Ch 1-6 are due at 1pm. Exam 1

8 Oct 14 Oct 16

No class Ch 10: Organizing Production

9 Oct 21 Oct 23

Ch 11: Output and Costs

10 Oct 28 Oct 30


11 Nov 4 Nov 6

Ch 13: Monopoly

12 Nov 11 Nov 13


13 Nov 18 Nov 20

Overview Ch 10-15 Homework Assignments Ch 10-15 are due at 1pm. Exam 2

14 Nov 25 Nov 27

Ch 7: International Trade Thanksgiving recess (no classes)

Please take time to fill in my Teaching Evaluation survey on-line! It is very important for me to have your feedback and to know how you enjoyed the class. Thank you!

15 Dec 2 Dec 4 Dec 6

Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods Ch 17: Economics of the Environment. Overview of CH7, 16-17 Homework Assignments Ch 7, 16-17 are due 1pm Myeconlab HW score is transferred to Courseweb

Week of finals

Fri, Dec 12 8:00-9:50am Exam 3


Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: W 2:30-3:30, TH 10:30-11:30 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 4th edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. Homework: Nine of the eleven homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. You will find the multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are designed to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. The answers will be available on CourseWeb shortly after the assignment is due. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet is available on the Course Documents area of CourseWeb. The paper is due by 5 pm on November 13. Recitations: The purpose of recitation is to go over problems and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the lecture setting. Of course, questions are welcome during lecture. In addition to the graded online homework sets discussed above there will be weekly problem sets available in the Recitation area on CourseWeb. The best way to learn the principles of economics (and get an A in this class) is to solve problems that both test and extend your understanding. These problems will not count toward your course grade directly, but you should complete all the assigned problems as they will help you understand and master the class material. Your TA will provide answers to the problem sets in recitation and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. These questions will be used in developing questions for the exams. You should try to complete the problems yourself before attending recitation because as you learn economics, you will find yourself capable of understanding an explanation of how a problem is solved long before you can actually solve it yourself. So be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are able to correctly answer the same kinds of problems on an exam. After attending recitation make sure that you can solve the problems correctly on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. The Course Outline & Review Sheet is available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb.




1 Sept 1 3


Ch 1 Ch 2

2 Sept 8 10


Ch 2 Ch 3

HW1 complete by 24:00 Sept 13

3 Sept 15 17


Ch 4 Ch 5


4 Sept 22 24



5 Sept 29 Oct 1

Taxes Ch 7

HW4 complete by 24:00 Oct 4

6 Oct 6 Oct 8



7 Oct 13 15


Ch 9 Ch 11


8 Oct 20 22


Ch 12 (p. 345-360)


9 Oct 27 29


Ch 12 (p. 360-367) Ch 13

HW7 complete by 24:00 Nov 1

10 Nov 3 5


Ch 15 Ch 14

HW8 complete by 24:00 Nov 8

11 Nov 10 12



12 Nov 17 19

International Trade and Trade Protection Ch 8 HW9 complete by 24:00 Nov 22

13 Nov 24 26

Externalities (Part I) THANKSGIVING BREAK

Ch 16

14 Dec 1 3

Externalities (Part II) Public Goods and goods with Special Characteristics

Ch 16 Ch 17

HW10 complete by 24:00 Dec 6

15 Dec 8 10


Ch 19 HW11 complete by 24:00 Dec 13

FINAL EXAM, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 8:00-9:50 AM University Policies: We will adhere to the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences’ Academic Integrity Policy in this class. These policies and procedures are outlined at the following web site: www.as.pitt.edu/fac/policies/academic-integrity. The Office of Disability Resources and Services in the William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.

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University of Pittsburgh

Department of Economics


Course Syllabus

Lecturer: Soiliou Daw Namoro [email protected]

412-648- 2242 Posvar 4529

Fax: 412-648-1793 Office hours: MW 10:00 am -11:30 am

Class Days & Times Room Class Dates

ECON 0100-1600 (11135)

MoWe 1:00PM - 1:50PM 120 Lawrence Hall Aug 31, 2015-

Dec 11, 2015

Teaching Assistants (TAs) & Office Hours

Name Email Office Hour Office: WWPH Phone ext. or number

Mark Azic [email protected] Tue 1:00pm-3:00 pm

4518 WWPH 8-2822

Katie Black [email protected] M 9:30 am- 11:30 am

4523 WWPH 8-1766

Li Sijie [email protected] Tue 11:00 am -1:00 pm

4519 WWPH 8-2824

Qixin He [email protected] Wed 2:00 pm -4:00 pm

4909 WWPH 412-897-5184

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Exam Date Exam Time Exam Room

FRI DEC 18 800 AM _ 9:50 AM

TBA


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Course Description

This is, as indicated in its title, an introductory course in microeconomics. Upon its completion, the

student will be prepared to take on more advanced levels of microeconomics. More specifically,

students sitting in this course will understand

The meaning of Economics and the economic problem.

Demand and Supply

How markets determine the welfare of their participants, with the related concept of efficiency

and equity.

How production or consumption of some goods can generate so-called externalities and how

economists think about these goods, which they refer to as public goods or common resources.

Government actions in markets.

The motivations behind and the mechanisms of trades that take place between countries.

Different structures that markets can have (competitive market, monopoly, Monopolistic


Prerequisites

Students who will take this course are expected to have a good grasping of basic algebra and geometry.

In particular, they must be familiar with graphing, equations of straight lines and their graphic

representations.

Textbook

Access to the MyEconLab Interactive Online system is required for this course. This system contains the

electronic version of the textbook by Michael Parkin, Microeconomics 12th Edition.

Access to MyEconlab can be purchased online at myeconlab.com (Please do not make a purchase of an

access key to MyEconlab from any other site). If you follow the directions on registering for MyEconlab,

your options will be laid out for you including free temporary 14 day access.

If, for your convenience, you also want to have the printed version of the textbook, the least expensive

option is to purchase it from the University bookstore, with the access key to MyEconlab system

included into it.

Recitations

There will be a recitation session every week. The TA will discuss with you the details of the organization

of the sessions.

Assignments

At least one online homework assignment will be given each week and is available for about 7 days.

Waiting until the last minute to do the assignment may result in a bad performance. For each

assignment, you have an unlimited number of attempts, but with no feedback hints to your mistakes.

Your official score on each assignment is the score you obtain on your last attempt. You are encouraged

to study in group.

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Exams

There will be 3 exams. None of these exams is cumulative (not even the final exam). The exam dates are

shown below in the course outline.

Grading

Course and recitation attendance is mandatory. There is no curving of grades. The final grade is made of

homework assignments (25%), and 3 exams (25% each). The overall letter grades are determined

according to the following scale:

90-100: A-, A, A+ (A range)

80-89: B-, B, B+ (B range)

70-79: C-, C, C+ (C range)

60-69: D-, D, D+ (D range)

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR GRADE

1. Every homework (HW) assignment is over 20. Convert the average HW score to a score over 25 (by

dividing it by 20 and multiplying the result by 25)

2. Convert each of the 3 exam scores to a score over 25.

3. Add up the 4 over-25 scores.

4. Refer to the letter grade ranges.

Academic integrity

It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of the University of Pittsburgh's policy and student

obligations regarding academic integrity. This information is available at the address



Students who have disabilities for which they want to request accommodations are encouraged to

contact me and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-

7890/412-383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and Services will verify

each student's disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.

Tentative Course outline and Calendar

Week Date Topic

1 Aug 31 Sept 2

Introduction Ch 1: What is Economics?

2 Sept 7 Sept 9

No class (Labor Day: University closed Ch1: What is economics?

3 Sept 14

Ch 2: The economic Problem


4

Sept 16 Ch 2: The economic Problem

4 Sept 21 Sept 23

Ch 3: Demand and Supply Ch 3: Demand and Supply

5 Sept 28 Sept 30

Ch 4: Elasticity Ch 5 : Efficiency and Equity

6 Oct 5 Oct 7

Ch 5: Efficiency and Equity; Ch 6: Government Actions in Markets. Ch 6 : Government Actions in Markets

7 Oct 12 Oct 14

Review of Chapters 1-6 Exam 1*. No Cell Phone. Based on Chapters 1-6.

Focus now on Exam 2. Recall that exams are not cumulative


Fall break for students (no classes) Ch 7: Global Markets in Action Ch 7: : Global Markets in Action

9 Oct 26 Oct 28

Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods

10 Nov 2 Nov 4

Ch 17: Externalities and the Environment Ch 11: Output and costs

11 Nov 9 Nov 11

Ch 11: Output and costs Review of Chapters 7, 11, 16, 17

12 Nov 16 Nov 18

Exam 2*. No Cell Phone. Based on Chs 7, 11, 16, and 17. Ch 12 Perfect competition

Focus now on the final. Recall that exams are not cumulative

13 Nov 23 Nov 25-Nov 29

Ch 12 Perfect competition; Ch 13 Monopoly Thanksgiving Recess

14 Nov 30 Dec 2

Ch 13 Monopoly; Ch 15 Oligopoly Ch 15 Oligopoly; CH 14 Monopolistic competition

15 Dec 7 Dec 9

Ch 14 Monopolistic competiton Review of Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15

Dec 14 –Dec 19 Final exam Period. See Page 1.

*Notes

A student who shows up at an exam, 20 or more minutes after the exam has started, is not allowed to take the exam.

A well-documented excuse is necessary for any make-up exam.

Homework assignments are available for about 7 days. Make-up HWs are not available.


Fall 2015 CRN: 18285

Econ 0100: Intro to Microeconomics

Syllabus Lecturer: Svitlana V Maksymenko, Ph.D. Office: 4703 Posvar Hall Tel: 412-383-8155

Class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 120 Lawrence hall.

Recitation Instructors (TAs):

Hao Feng Office: Posvar 4910 Tel: 412-648-1792 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays 1:30-4:30 pm

Yi Han Office: Posvar 4513 Tel: 412-648-2825 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: Mondays 9am-12pm and 1-4pm

Communication and Help Your recitation instructor (TA) is your primary contact in the course. Should you have any questions about this course, the textbook, lecture material, or homework assignment, do not hesitate to contact your TA. The material of Microeconomics course is highly cumulative. If you do not understand something, please seek help immediately. As the first step, read the textbook carefully and visit your recitation instructor (TA) during his/her office hours. The TA will clarify all lecture material, targeting it specifically for you. The TA will also help you to develop problem-solving skills required to complete homework assignments and to perform well during exams, on individual basis. If after consultations with TAs you still do not feel comfortable with the course material, feel free to come to my office and talk about the knowledge gaps you experience. My office hours during the Fall semester are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00-2:15pm. I could also offer additional hours by appointment. I will employ a CourseWeb (http://courseweb.pitt.edu) email option to report grades, exam statistics and notify students about changes in a course calendar (if any). It is a student’s responsibility to check the University email account on a regular basis, and keep it under the quota.

Course Description This course introduces students to the theory of microeconomics. Upon completion of this course students will have a deep understanding of:

• What Microeconomics is about • The economic problem and efficiency • Laws of demand and supply • Elasticity




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• Organization of production and costs • Structure of markets • Economic models that explain firms’ decisions in perfectly competitive environment,


Prerequisites Competence in basic algebra and geometry (graphing, linear equations, and slopes of linear graphs) and a willingness to work hard.


Microeconomics (with Myeconlab website access code) by Michael Parkin, 12th ed, published by Pearson, copyright 2015, ISBN: 9780134004686. The Myeconlab access code (valid for a semester and bundled with a brand new text) is required in order to access on-line homework assignments. The website also gives access to sample quizzes, chapter summaries, and answers to the end-of-chapter questions. The hardcopy 12e textbook (packaged with Myeconlab access code) is available in the bookstore. If you prefer e-version of the text, it is available for purchase through Myeconlab website. At this website, you can also purchase a new access code separately from the text, in case you own a used or older edition textbook.

Class rules Your presence in a lecture is required. You must arrive and be at your seat before class starts. Please don’t come to the class late. If you face an emergency, notify your TA as soon as possible by phone or e-mail. While in class, I will not allow students to make noise or otherwise distract their classmates. If you want to ask a question, raise your hand and I will call on you. The use of cellular phones, pagers, and other similar devices is prohibited. Students with disabilities Any student with a need for special accommodation due to disability should inform me of this. The Disability Resources and Services Office (216 William Pitt Union, 412-624-7890) will coordinate the needed accommodations. Class cancellations Any class cancellations due to bad weather are determined by the university administration and are announced on the university web site. Exams Dates of exams are contained in the detailed plan below. Usually exams include multiple choice questions, and a problem solving section. All exams are not cumulative. I will not offer make-up exams, with the only one exception: if you notify me or the TA as soon as possible of a serious reason (such as hospitalization) for missing an exam. This notification should be given prior to the exam. In case of no notifications, the keys to the exam will be posted on a CourseWeb an hour after the test, and no make-up will be allowed.

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Assignments All homework assignments are on-line assignments posted on Myeconlab website. Use the access code (packaged with your textbook) to register at www.myeconlab.com. Step-by-step instructions are posted on the CourseWeb. The homework assignments can be found under Homeworks tab. You can work on the assignment until you are happy with your score. For the questions you missed, click on the tab “try similar exercise” and the system will generate another similar question for you to practice. After the due date, assignments are no longer accessible. You are encouraged to study in groups; however each student has to submit the assignment on-line individually. During the week of finals, I will transfer your Myeconlab homework score to the Courseweb Gradebook, and will use it for computing final course grade. Academic Integrity Students in this course are expected to comply with the University of Pittsburgh’s Policy on Academic Integrity. Any student suspected of violating this obligation will be required to participate in the procedures outlined in the University Guidelines on Academic Integrity. Definition of plagiarism can be found on the University website.

Grading

Attendance of lectures and recitations is required. Remember: missing classes will seriously compromise your performance in this course. Active participation in problem solving sessions during recitations and positive recommendations from my TAs will give you a chance to get a higher course grade if you end up on a border. There will be no curving. Your course grade will be computed with the following weights:

• Recitation participation 5 percent • Homework assignments 20 percent • Exam 1: 25 percent • Exam 2: 25 percent • Exam 3: 25 percent




90-100 A-, A, A+ 80-89 B-, B, B+ 70-79 C-, C, C+ 60-69 D-, D, D+


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Course Calendar

Week Dates Lecture 1 Sept 1

Sept 3 Introduction Ch 1: What is Microeconomics?

2 Sept 8 Sept 10

Ch 2: Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) Application of PPF: Comparative Advantage and Gains from Trade

3 Sept 15 Sept 17

Ch 3: Demand and Supply

4 Sept 22 Sept 14

Ch 4: Elasticity Ch 5: Economic Efficiency

5 Sept 29 Oct 1


6 Oct 6 Oct 8

Overview Ch 1-6 Homework Assignments of Ch 1-6 are due at 10am. Exam 1

7 Oct 13 Oct 15

Ch 10: Organizing Production Ch 11: Output and Costs

8 Oct 20 Oct 22

Fall break (no class) Ch 11: Output and Costs (cont.)

9 Oct 27 Oct 29


10 Nov 3 Nov 5

Ch 13: Monopoly

11 Nov 10 Nov 12


12 Nov 17 Nov 19

Ch 15: Oligopoly (cont.) Overview Ch 10-15

13 Nov 24 Nov 26

Homework Assignments Ch 10-15 are due at 10am. Exam 2 Thanksgiving recess (no classes)

14 Dec 1 Dec 3


Please take time to fill in my Teaching Evaluation survey on-line! I care about the quality of teaching at our department, and it is very important to me to know your rating/feedback. Thank you!

15 Dec 8 Dec 10

Ch 16: Public Choices and Public Goods Ch 17: Economics of the Environment. Overview of CH7, 16-17

Week of finals

Fri, Dec 18 Homework Assignments Ch 7, 16-17 are due 8am Myeconlab HW score is transferred to Courseweb 8:00-9:50am Exam 3

Intro. Microeconomic Theory Prof. Frank Giarratani ECON 0100 Spring 2016 (2164)

Lectures: 121 LAWRN T/H 4:00 – 5:15 PM Office hours: 4916 WWPH, T/TH 1:30 – 3:00 PM

Course description: This course is designed to introduce students to the principles of microeconomics. It focuses on the structure and functions of markets, by examining some of the basic economic decisions made by consumers and firms. Students may use this course as a gateway to a wide variety of applied economics courses and as a foundation for more advanced study. It also provides information that is basic to inquiry in many other disciplines. Course Web Site: The course website provides complete information concerning examinations and other important elements of the course. It is designed to assist you in organizing your work and keeping track of your progress in the course. Use it to good advantage:

http://courseweb.pitt.edu Required Textbook: N. Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Microeconomics, Sixth Edition or Seventh Edition (South-Western CENGAGE Learning). See http://www.cengage.com/economics/mankiw/. Prerequisites: The course presumes a good working knowledge of high-school algebra as well as the ability to understand and use graphs. See also Chapter 2, Appendix, Graphing: A Brief Review. Grading policy: Course grades are based on three examinations and scheduled quizzes for selected chapters, Examinations consist of a mix of multiple choice questions and analytical problems. Scheduled quizzes, which are offered on-line, consist of 10 True/False questions. The weights of exams and quizzes in the final course grade are as follows:


Exam 1 25 CH 1 – 6

Exam 2 25 CH 7 – 11

Exam 3 35 CH 13 – 19

Scheduled Quizzes 15 See course web site

Total 100

Make-up policy: Make-up exams are permitted only for documented illness or emergency. Appropriate documentation must be submitted within seven calendar days of the missed examination, and the documentation must be accompanied by a “Missed Exam Form” – which is available for download from the course web site. Scheduled quizzes are available on-line for one day only (24 hours), Make-ups for scheduled quizzes are not permitted; however, for purposes of computing final course grades, only the best six (of eight) quiz grades will be used in determining each student's weighted average. Homework: It is essential that students are adequately prepared for each lecture, and students are expected to read assigned material in preparation for class. In addition to this reading, recommended homework also includes the multiple-choice problems for each chapter that are available in the Homework content area of the course web site. The Homework content area also includes a set of problems that are drawn from the “Problems and Applications” section at the end of each chapter in the textbook. These problems are highly recommended because they often are used in developing questions for the examinations.


http://www.cengage.com/economics/mankiw/

Spring 2016; M-W, 3:00-4:15; G13 CL

Syllabus

Economics 0100-1400Introduction to Microeconomic Theory

(HONOR’S SECTION)

Professor Werner Troesken

Office: Posvar Hall 4526

Office hours: MW 1:30-2:30

Office phone: (412) 648-2823

email: [email protected]

Course Overview

This course serves as an introduction to microeconomics. One might think of

microeconomics as the study of choice under constraints: how, in a world of scarce resources,

does one allocate resources optimally? The phrase scarce resources is italicized here because

scarcity is important on a number of levels. For one thing, it suggests choice is a necessity: in a

world with budget constraints and finite incomes, it is impossible to get everything you want.

But it is not just financial constraints that matter. Decision makers also face constraints in

terms of time, information, and their ability to process whatever information is before them.

At a more fundamental level, choosing one option over another represents a foregone

opportunity.

Economists evaluate decisions, and the outcomes that flow from those decisions, by

asking two related questions. First, is the outcome efficient? Second, is the outcome an

equilibrium? This approach distinguishes economics from other disciplinary approaches that

evaluate social outcomes on more normative criteria such as morality and fairness.

The tools economists use to analyze choices and social outcomes are not limited to

phenomenon one might narrowly define as economic. On the contrary, economic models can

be applied in a host of different settings, including, religion, crime, culture and art,

environmental concerns, legal decision making, families and fertility, and politics. What all

these settings have in common is that they can be modeled as markets, and markets lend

themselves to economic analysis.

As the preceding paragraphs suggest, economists rationalize and explain the world by

building models. Models are abstractions. They are built on assumptions that simplify the

world and make it possible to understand the salient aspects of a given situation. Aside from

learning how to construct these models, we will also explore how economists test models and

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assess statements about causality.

Textbook

Microeconomics by Dean Karlan and Jonathan Morduch.

Grading:

1. Exams

If you perform adequately on your homework and in-class assignments, 100 percent of

your final grade will be determined by your performance on three equally weighted exams:

two midterms and a final. Exams consist of short-answer questions, and are graded on the

following scale:

Score Letter grade Score Letter grade

93 and above

90-92

88-89

83-87

80-82

78-79

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C+

73-77

70-72

68-69

63-67

60-62

59 and below

C

C-

D+

D

D-

F

The first midterm is scheduled for Monday, February 8, 2016. The second midterm is

scheduled for Monday, March 21, 2016. If you miss one of the midterm exams, for whatever

reason, your final will include questions covered on the missed midterm exam. If you miss both

midterm exams, you will receive a zero for one of the exams. The final is scheduled for

Saturday, April 30, at 4 pm. University policy dictates the final exam schedule. It cannot be

altered except in exigent circumstances. If you miss the final exam, you must take the

following three steps:

(1) Contact me within 24 hours of the exam. If I do not hear from you in that time

period, you will receive a zero for the final.

(2) Provide documentation of exigency.* If I do not receive such documentation within

24 hours, you will receive a zero for the final. I also reserve the right to impose a harsh

penalty (including assigning a grade of zero for the final) for missing the final exam for

reasons I deem less than exigent.

(3) You must take the make-up final exam at a time of my choosing. If you cannot make

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that time, you will receive a zero for the final exam.

* - Note that providing false or misleading statements or documentation, or any other form of

cheating for that matter, will result in an F for the course and whatever additional university

sanctions might be deemed appropriate.

2. Homework and Class Participation

Periodically, there will be homework and various in-class assignments. I will grade

these assignments as 0 (no credit), 1 (adequate), or 2 (more than adequate). If you receive

straight 0s on these assignments, I will reduce your final letter grade by 10 percent (i.e., one full

letter grade). If you receive straight 2s on these assignments, I reserve the right to increase

your final letter grade by up to 10 percent. Please note the asymmetry here: straight 2s does

not guarantee a 10 percent increase; that is only the maximum possible increase. To maximize

your likelihood of receiving a 10 percent bump in your final grade, you are strongly

encouraged to regularly attend, and actively participate in, class.

3. Re-grade policy

In cases of grade disputes, the area of contention should be explained in writing and

returned to me with the exam. I will then re-grade the entire exam.

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

With a few exceptions, we will follow the chapters presented in Karlan and Morduch

chronologically.

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Professor: Dr. Shirley Cassing Telephone: (412)-648-1729 Office: 4915 WWPH Office Hours: T 1-2, W 11-12 Email: [email protected] Course Website: http://courseweb.pitt.edu Textbook: Microeconomics, 4th edition by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Worth Publishers. Course Grade: Homework 20%; Three Exams 25% each; Paper 5%. Exams will be given in class. Alternative scheduling of the exams will be provided only in the case of an emergency. In order to schedule a makeup exam, you must submit the Missed Exam Form available on the Course Documents content area of CourseWeb. Homework: Eight of the ten homework sets assigned will count toward your homework grade. The homework sets are to be completed on CourseWeb. The multiple-choice problems which make up the homework for each week are available in the Homework content area of CourseWeb. These problems are selected to help you learn to apply concepts presented in the textbook and lecture, and prepare for exams. The graded homework sets have a firm due date and time listed in the Reading and Homework Assignment Schedule which is on the second page of this syllabus. The answers will be available on CourseWeb shortly after each assignment is due. Paper Assignment: The short paper will be no more than 500 words in length. You will be asked to use a principle or principles from class to pose and answer a question about some event or behavior that you have personally observed. The title of your paper must be a question. The paper assignment sheet is available on CourseWeb. The paper will be due by 5 pm on April 8. Recitations: The purpose of recitation is to go over problems and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions outside of the lecture setting. Of course, questions are welcome during lecture. In addition to the graded online homework sets mentioned above there will be weekly problem sets available in the Recitation area on CourseWeb. The best way to learn the principles of economics is to solve problems that both test and extend your understanding. These problems do not count toward your course grade, but you should complete all the assigned problems as they will help you understand and master the class material. Your TA will provide answers to the problem sets in recitation and offer suggestions on how to set up and solve them. These questions will be used in developing questions for the exams. You should try to complete the problems before attending recitation, and then attend recitation to confirm that you have answered the problems correctly. If you could not answer the questions before hand or incorrectly answered them, your TA will clear up any questions you have. But be careful: The fact that your TA’s answers make sense to you is no proof that you are ready to solve the same kinds of problems on an exam. After attending recitation make sure that you can now solve the problems correctly on your own. The Course Outline & Review Sheet also reviews core ideas and key terms covered in class. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. This should be helpful in preparing for exams. The Course Outline & Review Sheet is available in the Course Documents area of CourseWeb.




1 Jan 6 Introduction to Class Ch 1

2 Jan 11 13

Introduction to Economics/Simple Economic Models Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) and Trade

Ch 2

3 Jan 18 20

Martin Luther King Birthday observance – no class Competitive Market Model (Demand and Supply)

Ch 3


4 Jan 25 27


Ch 4 Ch 5


5 Feb 1 3



6 Feb 8 10

Taxes Ch 7 HW4 complete by Feb 15, 10 am

7 Feb 15 17



8 Feb 22 24


Ch 9 Ch 11


9 Feb 29 Mar 2


10 Mar 6-13 Spring Break Week

11 Mar 14 16


Ch 13 Ch 15


12 Mar 21 23



13 Mar 28 30


Ch 8 HW8 complete by Apr 4, 10 am

14 Apr 4 6

Factor Markets and Income Distribution Ch 19


15 Apr 11 13

Externalities Ch 16


16 Apr 18 20

Public Goods and Goods with Special Characteristics Review

Ch 17

FINAL EXAM, TUESDAY, APRIL 26 2-3:50 PM University Policies: We will adhere to the university’s Academic Integrity Policy in this class. See the University of Pittsburgh’s Undergraduate Bulletin or the Guidelines on Academic Integrity: Student and Faculty Obligations and Hearing Procedures at www.pitt.edu/~provost/ai1.html for full details on this. The Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union (412)-624-7890 is available for students who have or may request an accommodation for a disability. If needed, please contact the office as early as possible in the term.