Economics 802                                                                                     Prof. Alexander Karaivanov

Microeconomic Theory I                                                                                                  Fall 2014

http://www.sfu.ca/~akaraiva/e802.html                                                                   akaraiva@sfu.ca

 

 

SYLLABUS

 

 

Course Description

This course is the graduate-level introduction to microeconomic theory. The material that will be covered includes: consumer theory, production theory, uncertainty, and short introductions to general equilibrium and game theory.

 

Organization

The webpage for the course is:

http://www.sfu.ca/~akaraiva/e802.html

All course materials, assignments and announcements will be posted on the webpage in pdf or html format.

           

Assignments and Grading

There will be weekly assignments (about 10 in total) on which you can work in groups but each student is required to submit his/her solutions separately. The assignments will be posted each Friday evening or Saturday morning and due the following Friday in class. Late submission of no more than 24 hours will be penalized by reducing your score by 50%. No exceptions will be made. There will be one midterm exam (planned for October 17) and a final exam (date TBA). The final exam is comprehensive. Your overall course grade will be based on your performance on all of the assignments, the midterm, and the final as follows:

- assignments: 25% of the final grade;

- midterm exam: 35% of the final grade;

- final exam: 40% of the final grade.

 

Barring really exceptional circumstances no exam re-takes will be allowed. Students who are unable to attend an exam must provide a certified note from their doctor stating the reason for their absence. If I have a reason to believe that a student has cheated on an exam I will give this student a grade of F for the course. In addition, such student would be subject to disciplinary punishment by the university, including possible expulsion.

 

Readings

The required textbook for the course is:

Jehle, G. and P. Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley Longman.   (JR)

An alternative text (not required) that you can use for most of the topics is:

Mas-Colell A., M. Whinston and J. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford  (MWG)

Course Schedule

The schedule below is tentative – small deviations from it will probably occur.

 

  1. Consumer theory basics – JR, ch. 1
  2. Topics in consumer theory – JR, 2.2; 2.3
  3. Consumer choice under uncertainty – JR, 2.4; MWG, ch. 6
  4. Theory of the firm – JR, ch. 3
  5. Introduction to general equilibrium – JR, 5.1-5.2
  6. *Introduction to game theory – JR, 7.1, 7.2.1, 7.2.2 (* if time permits)