Bachelor
2024/2025
Microeconomics-2
Type:
Compulsory course (Economics)
Area of studies:
Economics
Delivered by:
Department of Theoretical Economics
Where:
Faculty of Economic Sciences
When:
2 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
84
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course examines the organization of markets from a microeconomic perspective, the principles of microeconomic policy, and the role of government in allocating scarce resources. The topics include: perfect competition, pricing in the presence of market power, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, game theory and factor markets, general equilibrium and efficiency, markets with asymmetric information, externalities, and public goods. The course continues Microeconomics-1; however, it can also be treated as an independent discipline for exchange students. Module I (resp. II) of this course corresponds to Module III (resp. IV) of a generic undergraduate course in microeconomics.
Prerequisites:
Multivariable calculus;
Microeconomics-1, including: consumer behaviour, intertemporal choice, uncertainty, production, perfectly competitive markets.
Learning Objectives
- Understand basic real-world microeconomic problems
- Develop critical thinking about economic matters
- Be able to solve stylized microeconomic models
- Evaluate different economic policies and trace how they affect social welfare
- Understand the basic principles of strategic interaction
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Be able to understand and solve stylized microeconomic models
- Develop critical thinking about economic problems
- Evaluate different economic policies and assess their effect on social welfare
- Understand basic real world microeconomic problems and describe them with a formal model
- Understand the basic principles of strategic interaction between economic agents
Course Contents
- Competitive profit maximization
- Monopoly
- Pricing with market power
- Overview of strategic models
- Static oligopolistic competition
- Sequential move games
- Repeated games
- Factor markets with market power
- General equilibrium and economic efficiency
- Asymmetric information
- Externalities
- Public goods
Assessment Elements
- Home Assignments (Module 1)There are 3 home assignments in Module 1. All submissions must be done electronically via Smart LMS. Please, upload ONE file (max 20MB) per student! Each student can submit a home assignment only once. Late submissions are not accepted and graded with zero points. In a home assignment, you will be asked to solve 3-6 problems. Each problem includes several blocks, and ONLY ONE of these blocks will be graded. Thus, the grade for a specific problem is equal to the grade you get for a block chosen. For example, you can score 25 points solving Problem 1 that consists of three blocks. If an instructor chooses the second block for grading and you score 24 points for it, then your score for Problem 1 is also 24.
- Home Assignments (Module 2)There are 3 home assignments in Module 2. All submissions must be done electronically via Smart LMS. Please, upload ONE file (max 20MB) per student! Each student can submit a home assignment only once. Late submissions are not accepted and graded with zero points. In a home assignment, you will be asked to solve 3-6 problems. Each problem includes several blocks, and ONLY ONE of these blocks will be graded. Thus, the grade for a specific problem is equal to the grade you get for a block chosen. For example, you can score 25 points solving Problem 1 that consists of three blocks. If an instructor chooses the second block for grading and you score 24 points for it, then your score for Problem 1 is also 24.
- Mid-Term Tests (Module 2)There will be 2 online mid-term tests in Module 2.
- Weekly Tests (Module 2)
- Mid-Term Tests (Module 1)There will be 2 online mid-term tests in Module 1.
- Final TestThe final test covers the topics of both modules, is graded on a 100 point scale and blocks the course grade. The following blocking rule applies: 1) If your score for the final test is STRICTLY LESS THAN 20 OUT OF 100, then the course is failed. 2) In this case, the final course grade on a 10 point scale is the minimum of (a) your weighted aggregate score on a 100 point scale converted to a 10 point scale and (b) 3, which corresponds to the highest failing grade at HSE. In all other cases the final course grade is defined by your weighted aggregate score converted to a 10 point scale. We illustrate this blocking rule with a simple example. Consider a student whose weighted aggregate score for home assignments, weekly and midterm tests is 45. Also, suppose that this student did not participate in the economic experiment and hence, has no bonus of 5 points. If the student scores 10 out of 100 in the final test, the course is failed, and the final grade is min{45 + 0.5*10 = 50 -> 5, 3} = 3, where 50 points on a 100 point scale become 5 points on a 10 point scale according to our conversion rule. If the student scores 24 out of 100 in the final test, the final grade is defined by (45 + 0.5*24 = 45 + 12 = 57 -> 5), where 57 points on a 100 point scale become 5 points on a 10 point scale according to our conversion rule.
- Weekly Tests (Module 1)
- Participation in an Economic ExperimentOn top of regular activities (home assignments, weekly and midterm tests), you can get extra points by participating in one of the experiments conducted by the International Laboratory for Experimental and Behavioural Economics at HSE. The experiment (1) does not require any special training, (2) lasts for approximately 1.5 hours, and (3) gives you 5 points (on a 100 point scale) that are added ON TOP OF 100 points you can score in this course. Notice that participation in the experiment is voluntary and does not discriminate against students who do not want / cannot engage in this activity. For example, if your weighted aggregate score based on home assignments and all the tests is 95 out of 100, then participation in the experiment gives your (+5) points, which results in the total score of (95+5=100) out of 100, so the upper bound of 100 remains the same for everyone. Each student can participate in the experiment only once. The schedule of experimental sessions will be posted on the course webpage in September-October.
Interim Assessment
- 2024/2025 2nd module0.5 * Final Test + 0.06 * Home Assignments (Module 1) + 0.06 * Home Assignments (Module 2) + 0.12 * Mid-Term Tests (Module 1) + 0.12 * Mid-Term Tests (Module 2) + 0.07 * Weekly Tests (Module 1) + 0.07 * Weekly Tests (Module 2)
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Микроэкономика, Пиндайк, Р. С., 2001
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Modern industrial organization, Carlton, D. W., 2005
- Микроэкономика : задачи и решения: учеб. пособие для вузов, Левина, Е. А., 2007
- Микроэкономика. Промежуточный уровень : сборник задач с решениями и ответами: учеб. пособие, , 2013