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Unit Code: ECN602

Unit Name: Intermediate Microeconomics

Description: This course introduces students to rigorous use of analytical theory and methods in economics. Microeconomics is the study of economic activity at the level of economic units, which are usually firms and consumers and their interaction at the marketplace. This intermediate course in microeconomics is designed to give students a solid understanding of economic intuition, theoretical constructs and analytical tools used in economics. It would particularly suit students interested to further advance in the study of economics, those expecting to be involved in business and policy fields and analyzing social processes. Microeconomics focuses on how various classes of economic units come to terms with the economic problem of scarcity. Households and firms are studied to analyze their behavior within the resource constraints they face and the procedures they employ for identifying choices that would optimize their objectives. Simply, put, it is the task of economics to show how to make optimal choices by best use of scarce resources and therefore to maximize economic welfare. As will become evident during the unit, the general procedures for determining optimal choices involve the application of common sense and logic. The tools of microeconomic analysis developed in this course is in the particular context of an economy characterized by the private ownership of property and free markets and which is populated by economic units who seek rationally to maximize their utility. The focus here is clearly on the neo-classical theory of economics. Topics covered include theories of consumer behavior, firms, market structures, distribution, general equilibrium and welfare economics. Further this course will introduce mathematics, which is the language of formal logic that enables one to define precisely and to express economic concepts and ideas clearly. The mathematical requirements for this course are linear algebra and basic calculus. The analysis is built mostly using diagrammatic and heuristic methods but the level of abstraction is much more intense than at the introductory level.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: ECN502

Prerequisite Sentence: or consent from HOD.

Credit Point: 15

Offered In: Semester 2