Course 2024-2025 a.y.

1. The beauty of microeconomics. How to think like an economist. Models and data.
2. Rational choice theory
3. Budget and time constraints
4. How to model tastes: indifference curves and utility functions
5. The consumer problem: constrained optimal choice
6. Deriving uncompensated demand functions
7. Price, income, and cross-price elasticities
8. Expenditure function; deriving compensated demand functions
9. Substitution and income effects
10. Leisure versus labor choice; the labor supply
11. Intertemporal choice; the saving and borrowing functions
12. Choice under uncertainty; lotteries, expected utility, risk attitudes; insurance
13. Game theory and its applications (Nash equilibrium; subgame perfect equilibrium)
14. Firm theory: Production and costs
15. Cost minimization and profit maximization
16. Equilibrium in perfectly competitive markets
17. Market interventions in competitive markets: welfare analysis
18. Monopoly. Price discrimination. Natural monopoly.
19. Monopolistic competition
20. Oligopoly (Cournot and Bertrand models; cartels and collusion)
21. General equilibrium analysis. Pareto efficiency. Welfare theorems.
22. Externalities and public goods. Free riding problem.
23. The journey through microeconomics: take-home message

• Acquire a profound knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of Microeconomics and its myriad applications to the real world. 
• Develop the ability to write an economic model, in particular to understand the choice behavior of individuals, households, workers, firms, and governments through markets and nonmarket interactions.

• Compare the theoretical predictions of models and the empirical evidence on economic outcomes. 
• Apply the economic way of thinking to other fields outside economics, including anthropology, biology, demography, history, medicine, political science, and sociology. 
• Develop a problem-solving attitude. 
• Develop team-building and team-working skills in a multicultural environment. 
• Learn to communicate in a clear and concise way. 
• Learn to set priorities, meet deadlines, and deliver the expected outcomes. 
• Develop the ability to think rigorously, analytically, and creatively at the same time.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

We have designed a course that enables students to acquire a profound understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of Microeconomics and its myriad applications to the real world. To accomplish this goal, the course is built around these building blocks:

• Theory Lectures and Review Sessions

Understanding Microeconomics is about learning models and the theoretical framework through a combination of mathematical tools and economic intuition. In the theory lectures and the review sessions we learn together a series of concepts, models, graphs, and calculus-driven analysis that help us analyze myriads of economic and non-economic issues through the lens of economic analysis.

Skills acquired:

• think in a general and abstract way
• develop logical reasoning
• mix mathematical rigor and economic intuition
• acquire problem solving skills

• Individual Homeworks

Twelve individual Homeworks (roughly one per week) are assigned through the Smartworks platform. The platform automatically grades the homeworks and explains the solutions.

Skills acquired:

• setting priorities and meeting deadlines
• problem solving attitude

• Individual Problem Sets

Four Problem Sets are assigned. Before the end of the semester, each student will have to submit the solutions of ONE problem set to be typed in LaTex (the choice of which of the four problem sets to submit is left to the student).

Skills acquired:

• setting priorities and meeting deadlines
• problem solving attitude
• learning to write documents in LaTex

• Group Presentations

Four additional readings taken from academic journals will be assigned to groups of 3 or 4 students. For each of the four readings, each group will work together and prepare a 3-slide presentation to be uploaded through the Blackboard platform. Some groups will be randomly selected and will present the slides to the class with a lively debate following.

Skills acquired:

• team working and multicultural attitude
• leadership skills
• thinking critically
• ability to express a lot of content in a brief yet exhaustive way
• presentation skills

• Final Essay

Each student will write a final essay titled “Thinking Like an Economist” in which he/she will explain how one or more concepts and tools learned in the Microeconomics course helps him/her see an issue or a problem through different eyes --- the eyes of an economist. The issue or problem may deal with economic matters but not necessarily --- be creative is the guiding motto of this final essay.

Skills acquired:

• creative thinking
• rigorous reasoning
• critical analysis
• writing skills

There is no difference between attending and non-attending students. The material, the workload, the requirements, and the evaluation based on homeworks, problem sets, and exams, are identical for each student, attending and non-attending.

With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the learning outcomes mentioned above, students' assessment is based on the following criteria and weights:   

Grades are based on the X/30 cum laude scale with the minimum passing overall grade being 18/30.

• For students taking the Midterm exam (in October) and the Second Partial exam (in January), grades are determined as follows:

*** P/F (pass / fail) means that failing to submit the chosen Problem Set, will automatically deliver a grade of “0” (zero) on 30 percent of the overall grade.

• For students taking the General exam in January or during the summer sessions, grades are determined as follows:

*** P/F (pass / fail) means that failing to submit the chosen Problem Set, will automatically deliver a grade of “0” (zero) on 30 percent of the overall grade.

You can find all the relevant information in BlackBoard (i.e., syllabus, slides of the lectures, readings for group presentations, individual homeworks, problem sets, additional helpful material).     

Textbook

• Hal R. Varian and Marc Melitz. Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus. A Modern Approach. Second International Student Edition. Norton Publishing Company (2024). ISBN  9781324034438
• The purchase gives access to the SmartWorks platform required for the individual homeworks.
• The textbook is available at Egea bookstore on Bocconi campus, or through the publisher UK website

https://wwnorton.co.uk/books/9781324034438-intermediate-microeconomics-with-calculus

(2 weeks for delivery), or through Amazon.

Make sure you purchase the edition listed above with the correct ISBN number.