Microeconomics

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Emanuela Sciubba
• Assessment: examination (80%) and coursework (20%)

Microeconomics is at the core of all of economics. This course aims to equip you with the standard methods and analytical tools of microeconomics, with emphasis on the relationship between the decisions of individual agents and the operation of markets. These analytical tools are essential to further progress in the subject. The course makes some use of calculus, which provides the basis of an analytical approach to many interesting microeconomic issues.

By the end of this module, you should be able to demonstrate that you:

• understand how the two sides of a competitive market - demand and supply - interact to determine prices and quantities
• understand how individual firms’ supply decisions are formed based on cost minimisation and profit maximisation principles
• understand the impact of monopoly and imperfect competition
• understand the theory of consumer choice that underlies the demand side of the market
• understand the role of risk and uncertainty in a consumer’s decision-making process
• know the basic concepts of game theory and appreciate the relevance of these concepts in applied market settings
• understand how some specific markets perform in the presence of asymmetric information due to adverse selection and moral hazard problems
• understand possible failures of the competitive market provision mechanisms due to 'missing markets'.