Teaching code

4S00239

Academic staff

Maria Vittoria Levati, Alessandro Barbazeni

Coordinator

Maria Vittoria Levati

Credits

9

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

SECS-P/01 - ECONOMICS

Period

Primo semestre (lauree) dal Sep 19, 2022 al Jan 13, 2023.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

The course aims to provide students with appropriate tools for understanding how firms and consumers take their decisions and how markets are organized, with particular emphasis on the concepts of optimization and equilibrium. Upon completing the course, the student must demonstrate to know the organization of the markets and the behavior of firms and consumers within such markets. The student will also be able to express judgments on the implications deriving from the economic agents’ choices and to compare the different market structures.

Prerequisites and basic notions

There is no mandatory requirement. Knowledge of basic concepts of mathematics is however appreciated.

Program

- Consumer Theory: budget constraint, preferences, utility, choice, demand, Slutsky equation, intertemporal choice, uncertainty, consumer's surplus, market demand, equilibrium
- Production Theory: technology, profit maximization, cost minimization, cost curves
- Market structure: perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly
- Interaction: Nash equilibrium and game theory, exchange (Varian, Chapter 31).
Textbook (recommended): "Microeconomia" by Hal R. Varian, Cafoscarina, 2011.
Exercises can be found in many textbooks. An Italian textbook is: G.P. Cipriani & T. Fioroni, Esercizi di Microeconomia, Giappichelli, 2020.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

There are 56 hours of lessons and 24 hours of exercise classes. In addition, tutorials will be organized to assist students in carrying out the exercises.

Learning assessment procedures

The examination procedures are the same for attending, non-attending and Erasmus students.
There will be an intermediate written exam (about halfway through the semester). This exam focuses on the topics covered up to that point. It consists of a test of multiple-choice questions (some of which will take the form of exercises).
The mid-term exam is optional. The score of the mid-term exam will count 50% of the final score. The aim of the intermediate exam is to encourage the students to a systematic study.
The final exam follows the same procedures as the intermediate exam: it consists of a test of multiple-choice questions.

Evaluation criteria

The exam questions will verify the student's ability to apply the knowledge acquired during the course. An exam example will be provided on the e-learning website of the course.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The overall grade will result from the sum of the evaluations of the single questions given in the written test. For students who take the partial exams, each of the two exams will receive equal weight in determining the overall grade.

Exam language

Italiano