Microeconomics
Associate Professor Colin Gannon
Two 1-hour lectures and one 1-hour tutorial per week * First semester * Clayton * Prohibition: Available only to Graduate Diploma of Economic Studies students
Objectives On completion of this subject students should be able to analyse decision-making by individual consumers and producers; understand the conditions for allocative efficiency in a general equilibrium framework; analyse price determination in produce and input markets under various conditions; analyse and critically evaluate policies designed to affect individual behaviour and market outcomes.
Synopsis Theory of consumer choice, including applications to income-leisure choice and intertemporal consumption; isoquant theory of production; allocative efficiency and competition and monopoly; models of monopolistic competition and oligopoly; input pricing; microeconomic policies to address problems of market failure.
Assessment Written (assignment and/or mid-semester test): 30% * Examination (2 hours): 70%
Preliminary reading
Stiglitz J Economics Norton 1993
or
McTaggart D and others Economics Addison-Wesley, 1992
Prescribed texts
Maurice S C and Phillips R Economic analysis 6th edn, Irwin, 1992
or
Pindyck R S and Rubinfeld D L Microeconomics 2nd edn, Macmillan, 1992