The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide appropriate analytical tools for understanding and interpreting the choices of consumption and production in different institutional contexts. The teaching methodology consists of theoretical lectures and tutorials.

Program

Textbook (recommended): "Microeconomia" by Hal R. Varian, Cafoscarina, 2007.
Additional material is available on the e-learning website.

The following program refers to the sixth edition of the textbook (2007).

Consumer Theory:
• Budget constraint (Varian, Chapter 2).
• Preferences and indifference curves (Varian, Chapter 3).
• Utility (Varian, Chapter 4).
• Choice (Varian, Chapter 5).
• Demand (Varian, Chapter 6).
• Revealed preference (Varian, Chapter 7).
• Slutsky equation (Varian, Chapter 8).
• Buying and selling (Varian, Chapter 9).
• Intertemporal Choice (Varian, Chapter 10).
• Choice under uncertainty (Varian, Chapter 12).
• Consumer's Surplus (Varian, Chapter 14).
• Market demand and elasticity (Varian, Chapter 15).
• Equilibrium (Varian, Chapter 16).

Production Theory:
• Technology (Varian, Chapter 18).
• Profit maximization (Varian, Chapter 19).
• Cost minimization (Varian, Chapter 20).
• Cost Curves (Varian, Chapter 21).

Market Structure:
• Perfect competition in the short and the long term (Varian, Chapters 22 and 23).
• Monopoly (Varian, Chapter 24).
• Monopoly behavior (Varian, Chapter 25).
• Oligopoly (Varian, Chapter 27).

Interaction:
• Nash equilibrium and Game Theory (Varian, Chapter 28).
• Exchange (Varian, Chapter 31).

Examination Methods

There will be an intermediate written exam (about halfway through the semester) lasting 90 minutes. This exam focuses on the topics covered up to that point. It consists of (a) a test of 15 multiple-choice questions and (b) a series of exercises.
The mid-term exam is optional and allows the students to get "bonus" points if they give the final exam during the session which immediately follows the lessons.
The amount of the bonus depends on the grades received in the midterm exam:
- 1 bonus point if the vote of the intermediate test is between 18 and 22;
- 2 bonus points if the vote of the intermediate test is between 23 and 26;
- 3 bonus points if the vote of the intermediate test is between 27 and 30.
The bonus points are added to the grades received in the final written exam in the case the latter is passed. The aim of the intermediate exam is to encourage the students to a systematic study.

The final exam is the same for all the students, irrespective of whether they participated in the intermediate exam or they did not. The final exam follows the same procedures as the intermediate exam: it consists of a test of 15 multiple-choice questions and a series of exercises.

In both the intermediate and final exams, the multiple-choice questions are scored as follows: +2 for each correct answer, -2/3 for each wrong answer, 0 for each unanswered question. The student must reach at least 10 points on the test to have his/her exercises evaluated. The test counts for 30% of the final grade.