Undergraduate - UnitECF3120 - Consumer economics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2012 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Business and Economics
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2012 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Rebecca Valenzuela

Synopsis

This unit introduces economic principles underlying consumer choice and market demand; describing consumer preferences, indifference curves and budget constraints, with particular emphasis on the role of prices as conveyors of information. It introduces economic tools and concepts for the analyses of consumption choices over time, under uncertainty and/or with risk, and in markets with asymmetric information. Other topics include work-leisure choice, wage changes and the supply of labour, and the provision of public goods and environmental goods. An examination of observed economic and social outcomes from the point of view of various normative criteria completes the coverage.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

understand economic models of household consumption which explain the allocation of resources over a variety of goods
understand the allocation of income between savings and consumption, and the allocation of expenditures over the life cycle
analyse data on household expenditure patterns
understand the role of government over consumer protection
analyse the role and impact of e-commerce on the way consumers choose in the marketplace.