ECN215 Intermediate Microeconomics - Consumers, Producers, Market and Welfare

Knowledge:

• Can explain the most central models in consumer, producer, and market theory.
• Has knowledge of the basic theory of consumer economic choice, and how this gives rise to demand functions.
• Has knowledge of the relationship between productivity and costs for producers, and how this gives rise to supply functions.
• Can explain the differences between perfect competitive markets and markets where the producer has market power
• Has insight into welfare theory and how different market interventions affect welfare

Skills:

• be able to explain and analyze a utility-maximizing consumer's allocation of income between different applications and from there be able to discuss how changes in prices and income will affect the demand for goods and services.
• be able to explain and analyze a cost-minimizing firms choice of input combinations, and from there (a) be able to explain the cost function for such a firm and (b) be able to discuss how changes in the firm's production or in prices of input factors will translate into the firm's demand for various inputs.
• be able to explain and analyze the choice of production levels and pricing under perfect competition and where the manufacturer has market power (monopoly).
• be able to explain and analyze the welfare effects of government market interventions.

General competence:

• use abstract graphical and simple mathematical models.