B1856 - Principles of Economics

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student grasps the basic knowledge of microeconomic theory and he/she can take part to the public debate with sufficient precision and independent judgement. In particular, the student knows the theory of decisions under certainty, uncertainty and strategic interaction; he/she understands the working of the markets and can provide an assessment in terms of efficiency; he/she understands the various forms of market failures and the possible solutions.

Course contents

No prior knowledge of economics is necessary to attend the course. After some preliminary notions, the course will cover the following topics (associated with the selected chapters of the textbook below):

Supply and Demand (Ch. 3);

Consumer and Producer Surplus (Ch. 4);

Price Controls and Quotas: Meddling with Markets (Ch. 5);

Elasticity (Ch. 6)

Taxes (Ch. 7)

Decision Making by Individuals and Firms (Ch. 9)

The Rational Consumer (Ch. 10 and the slides on Virtuale)

Behind the Supply Curve: Inputs and Costs (Ch. 11)

Perfect Competition and the Supply Curve (Ch. 12)

Monopoly (Ch. 13)

Oligopoly (Ch. 14)

Externalities (Ch. 16)

Public Goods and Common Resources (Ch. 17)

Readings/Bibliography

Microeconomics. Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. Fifth Edition. Macmillan Education.

Teaching methods

Lectures, Slides, Readings, Tutoring Sessions

Assessment methods

There are two different types of exams, based on the same program described above, for attending and non-attending students. Regardless of the exam types (outlined below), students have the right to reject a positive final grade (equal or greater than 18) of the exam (either mid-term exams or final exam) only once and they have to communicate this by email within a certain date that will be announced at due time.

• Final exam (for Non-Attending Students)

1) Schedule: Students can take the full exam covering the entire program only once per semester, on one of the scheduled dates.

2) Structure:

• The exam lasts 80 minutes and is held in the computer lab.

• The exam comprises 18 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-answer questions.

• Each right answer to the multiple-choice questions corresponds to 1 point; each wrong or blank answer one to 0 points.

• Each open-answer question corresponds to 6 points.

3) Grade: The grade ranges between 0 and 30, with the minimum passing grade being 18.

4) Rejection and Failing: Students have the right to reject the grade of the exam. However, if they choose to do so or if they do not pass the full exam (a grade lower than 18), they have to retake the final exam in the next session.

• Two mid-term exams (for Attending Students)

1) Schedule: Students can take the first mid-term exam (covering the first half of the program) in the middle of the course and the second mid-term exam (covering the second half of the program) at the end of the course.

2) Structure:

• Each mid-term exam lasts 50 minutes and is held in the computer lab.

• Each mid-term exam comprises 12 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-answer question.

• Each right answer to the multiple-choice questions corresponds to 1.5 points; each wrong or blank answer one to 0 points.

• The open-answer question corresponds to 12 points.

3) Grade: The final grade, which ranges from 0 to 30 with the minimum passing grade being 18, is the average of the grades (with the minimum of 18 out of 30 for each mid-term exam) obtained in the two mid-term exams.

4) Rejection, Absence and Failing:

• If a student does not pass (a grade lower than 18) one of the two mid-term exams, is absent or chooses to reject the grade (allowed for one mid-term exam only), he/she can retake the mid-term exam on the first date scheduled for the final exam.

• If the student retakes the mid-term exam on the first date scheduled for the final exam and does not pass, he/she can take the final exam covering the entire program on one of the remaining scheduled dates.

• If a student does not pass (a grade lower than 18) the first partial exam and is absent for the second, he/she has to take the final exam covering the entire program on one of the remaining scheduled dates.

• If a student rejects a positive final grade (an average of 18 or higher) from the two mid-term exams, he/she can still sit for the full exam covering the entire program on one of the scheduled dates.

Office hours

See the website of Jacopo Bonchi