Microeconomics

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Dr Emanuela Sciubba
• Assessment: a mid-term test (20%) and three-hour 15-minute examination (80%)

Microeconomics is at the core of all of economics. In this module you will be equipped 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.

We will use some calculus, which provides the basis of an analytical approach to many interesting microeconomic issues.

By the end of this module, you will be able to understand:

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