09446 - Microeconomics (O-Z)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the students will: - master the basic tools for the study of the behaviour of the main economic agents (consumers, firms, government) and of their interactions in the markets. - know the basic theoretical instruments for the understanding of the redistributive effects of public policies, with particular reference to the Italian case.

Course contents

Overview of the course (THE COURSE WILL BE HELD IN ITALIAN)

INTRODUCTION (chapter 1)

• The Capitalist revolution and wealth inequality
• Technological change, population and economic growth
  

PART I: Scarcity, work, and choice (chapters 2 and 3)

• Labour, preferences, opportunity costs
• Economic growth and labour time (theory, historic evolution and cross-country differences)
• Wealth and substitution effect

PART II: Social interactions (chapter 4)

• Game theory
• Social preferences (prisoner's dilemma, public goods etc)
• Lab and field experiments

PART III: Demand and supply, monopoly, and perfect competition (chapters 7 and 8)

• Market power and monopoly
• Competitive markets and equilibrium
  

PART IV: Market failures and out-of-equilibrium rents (chapters 11 and 12)

• Out-of-equilibrium
• Financial bubbles
• Negative externalities, property rights, bargaining, and piguvian taxes

Please make sure to check the updated program and the detailed syllabus online, on the Virtuale page of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

We will use the following book (IN ITALIAN)

The CORE Team (2018), Economia: Comprendere il mondo che cambia, il Mulino.

Ebook version available here free of charges: https://www.core-econ.org/project/leconomia/

The book is also available in English on the same website. The e-book offers a number of interactive tools, including self-assessment tests.

Teaching methods

Lectures and exercises, complemented by supporting material. Interactive tools, market simulations, and newspapers articles will be used during the lectures to foster the understanding of the phenomena under study.

Attendance of both lectures and exercises is fundamental for a good understanding of the course material and a successful exam. 

Assessment methods

Written exam structured around three parts: multiple choice questions, theoretical questions, and exercises.

During the semester, students will be able to take two partial exams (the final grade is the average of the two partials).

No additional partial exams will be scheduled during the academic year.

Teaching tools

The course comprises a total of 60h of frontal lectures and 20h of exercises. The first 30 hours will be done by Prof. Biroli, while the latter ones by Prof. Bonacini.

Slides, the material for the exercises, and other material will be made available online on IOL and on the personal webpage of the instructor: https://sites.google.com/site/stefaniabortolotti/teaching

Both the book and the additional material are compulsory for the preparation of the exam.

Office hour only by appointment by sending an email to the instructor.

Office hours

See the website of Pietro Biroli

See the website of Luca Bonacini