ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY
ECON 251
INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMIC THEORY
SPRING 2017
Instructor:
Dr. Fatma Busra Gunay
Office:
Hepburn 204
Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
(929)-920-4948
Lectures:
Section 1: TTh 8:30-10:00
H113
Office Hours:
TTh 14:30-16:00 (or
by appointment)
Section 2: TTh 10:10-11:40
H112
Course Description and Objectives:
Intermediate Microeconomics expands upon basic models of supply and demand,
consumer theory, the theory of the firm and production, and theories of market
behavior covered in Introduction to Economics. We are going to examine the role of
prices in the allocation of resources and examines the effects of changes in policy
on economic choices. By the end of the semester, you will be able to apply the tools
of economic analysis to a wide variety of problems, and to be able to draw
conclusions from this analysis.
Textbook:
Microeconomics, 8th Edition, by Pindyck and Rubinfeld (previous editions are
acceptable as long as you have a MyEconLab subscription)
Course Contents
Weeks
Week 1-5
Subjects to be Discussed
I.
II.
Week 6-12
III.
IV.
Week 13-15
Introduction
1.
Preliminaries (Chapter 1)
2.
Supply and Demand (Chapter 2)
Consumer Theory
1.
Budget Constraints and Indifference Curves (Chapter 3)
2.
Individual and Market Demand (Chapter 4)
3.
Choice Under Uncertainty (Chapter 5)
Producer Theory
1.
Production (Chapter 6)
2.
The Cost of Production (Chapter 7)
3.
Profit Maximization and Competitive Supply (Chapter 8)
Markets and Strategy
1.
The Analysis of Competitive Markets (Chapter 9)
2.
Market Power: Monopoly (Chapter 10)
3.
4.
5.
Pricing with Market Power (Chapter 11)
Game Theory (Chapter 13)
Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (Chapter 12)
Grading:
Number
Midterm Exam
Group Homework
MyEconLab Assignments and Experiments
Final Exam
Pop-Quiz
TOTAL
2
1
15
1
13
Percentage of
grade
15% each
10%
20%
30%
10%
100%
Exam Policies:
There will be 1 in-class midterm exam and a final exam. The midterm exams are on
February 23th and on April 13th. The final examination (May 10th, 6:00pm) is
comprehensive and includes multiple choice and short answer questions as well as
problems.
During exams, students may use a simple scientific calculator (not a calculator with
graphing abilities).
MyEconLab Assignments and Experiements
There will be weekly assignments to be completed over the weekend. I will post them
on Thursday 3pm and they are due on the next Tuesday 8:30am. We will be using
an online system called "MyEconLab." An individual subscription to this service is
required for the course because your assignments will be posted and submitted on
this site. Please see the last page of the syllabus for detailed registration
instructions. At the end of the semester, I will drop the lowest grade out of these 15
assignments.
During the semester, we will conduct in class experiments. Students are responsible
for bringing their own laptop computer to the classroom at the day of the
experiment. The dates will be announced in class.
Group Homework:
There will be 1 group homework due on March 30th, in class. You will have
approxiamtely 2 weeks to work on it. Students will work in groups of 4 or 5.
Pop-Quizzes:
There will be weekly quizzes (each Tuesday or Thursday), which include the topic
covered during the lecture. You are not expected to be prepared for the quizzes. The
questions are designed in such a way that following the lecture and the class
discussions is enough to get a 100. You just need to pay attention to the lecture. At
the end of the semester, I will drop the lowest 2 grades out of these 15 quizzes.
Grading Scale:
Below is a TENTATIVE (NOT FINAL) grading scale. It is intended to give you a better
idea of what to expect as an end-of-semester grade. The grades will be adjusted
(curved) based on the performance of the class as a whole.
PERCENT
95-100
91-94
88-90
85-87
82-84
79-81
76-78
73-75
GRADE
4.0
3.75
3.50
3.25
3.0
2.75
2.50
2.25
70-72
67-69
64-66
61-63
55-60
54 AND BELOW
2.0
1.75
1.50
1.25
1.0
0
Academic Honesty:
St. Lawrence University maintains high standards for academic integrity in order to
provide the students the best quality education. An online copy of the academic
honor policy can be found at
http://www.stlawu.edu/sites/default/files/resource/AcademicHonorPolicy.pdf
Accomodations for Students with Disabilities
If you have a disability and need accommodations please be sure to contact the
Disability and Accessibility Services Office (x5537) right away so they can help you
get the accommodations you require. If you will need to use any accommodations in
this class, please talk with me early so you can have the best possible experience this
semester. Although not required, I would like to know of any accommodations that
are needed at least 10 days before a quiz or test, so please see me soon. For more
specific information visit the DASO website http://www.stlawu.edu/disability-andaccessibility-services
In-Class Policies:
Cell phone and computer use (except for taking notes) is strictly prohibited in class.
The lecture starts and ends exactly at the time denoted in the schedule.
Students are responsible for bringing a calculator to the class for quizzes, you are
not allowed to use your cell phone as a calculator.
You are responsible for any announcements made in class.
To register for Intermediate Microeconomic Theory:
1. Go to www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com.
2. Under Register, select Student.
3. Confirm you have the information needed, then select OK! Register now.
4. Enter your instructor’s course ID: gunay94193, and Continue.
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Enter the access code that came with your textbook or was purchased separately
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Buy access using a credit card or PayPal account.
If available, get temporary access by selecting the link near the bottom of the
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8. On the My Courses page, select the course name Intermediate Microeconomic
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