Inhalt

[ 514INMIIMIK21 ] KS Introduction to Microeconomics

Versionsauswahl
Workload Education level Study areas Responsible person Hours per week Coordinating university
3 ECTS B1 - Bachelor's programme 1. year Economics Michael Irlacher 2 hpw Johannes Kepler University Linz
Detailed information
Original study plan Bachelor's programme International Business Administration 2025W
Learning Outcomes
Competences
Students are able to recognize microeconomic principles in individual and professional decision-making and to analyze policy interventions. Students are equipped to appropriately evaluate (future) economic challenges, such as, digital, social, and ecological transformation.
Skills Knowledge
Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 3 (LO3): Explain the key ideas of demand and supply and their interaction in markets.

Learning Outcome 4 (LO4): Solve and interpret microeconomic models using mathematical and statistical approaches.

Learning Outcome 5 (LO5): Derive behavioral predictions of consumers and producers using the concepts of utility and profit maximization.

Learning Outcome 6 (LO6): Assess the welfare implications of policy interventions in different areas of economics.

Course Topics:

  • Supply and demand (excess and shortage of supply and demand, market equilibrium)
  • Elasticities (formal computation of elasticities, substitutes and complements)
  • Preferences and budget constraints (utility function, indifference curves)
  • Optimal consumption (utility maximization)
  • Demand function and consumer surplus (price changes, substitution and income effects)
  • Production function (average and marginal productivity, economies of scale)
  • Costs (average, marginal, and total costs, short- and long-run costs)
  • Profit maximization (marginal revenue, short- and long-run optimization)
  • Supply function and producer surplus
  • Welfare analysis (policy interventions, dead-weight loss)
  • Monopoly (difference to competitive equilibrium, market power)
  • Monopolistic Competition and oligopoly (Cournot, Stackelberg, and Bertrand equilibria)

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1 (LO1): Recall the basic concepts of demand, supply, market equilibria in microeconomics (see course topics).

Learning Outcome 2 (LO2): Remember the concepts of welfare economics and the trade-offs between efficiency and distribution.

Criteria for evaluation Students are able to reach 100 points, 90 (90 %) for the exam and 10 (10 %) for the homework exercise. A minimum of 40 points at the exam is necessary in order to obtain a positive grade.

The total points translate into the grade as follows:

PointsGrade
85 – 1001
70 – 842
55 – 693
40 – 544
0 – 395
  1. Exam: 1 individual exam. Students are able to repeat the exam if they want to improve their grade, in case of a negative grade in the first exam, or if they were unable to attend the first exam. In the case that students obtain two positive grades in the main and the retry exam, the better grade counts. The exam consists of theoretical questions and asks students to solve applied problems. It lasts 90 minutes.
  2. Homework: there is 1 homework which has to be submitted via moodle. Feedback is also provided via moodle.

Synchronization of learning outcomes and assessments:
LO1: Written Exam + Homework
LO2: Written Exam + Homework
LO3: Written Exam + Homework
LO4: Written Exam
LO5: Written Exam
LO6: Written Exam

Methods The course combines several teaching methods to

  1. inspire and motivate students for the relevance of microeconomic questions.
  2. address the learning objectives with appropriate and state-of-the-art didactical methods.

This includes the following

  • Teacher-centred information inputs, supported by slides and literature.
  • Development of content in collaboration with the students on the black board.
  • Individual homework exercise.
Language English
Study material
  • Slides
  • Textbook: Robert S. Pindyck and Daniel L. Rubinfeld. “Microeconomics”, Pearson, Prentice Hall, 7th Edition.
Changing subject? No
On-site course
Maximum number of participants 100
Assignment procedure Assignment according to priority