ECC5900 - Microeconomics - 2019

The behaviour of the economy is the result of a host of decisions made each day by millions of people. Prices and markets play a crucial role in economic behaviour, creating a system in which actions of individuals, guided by self-interest and without any central co-ordination or planning, create wealth for society as a whole. How individual workers, households and firms make decisions, and how they interact with each other, is the subject of microeconomics.

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

1. understand how markets work, and how prices work to allocate resources
2. understand the basic principles of how people make economic decisions, how they interact economically, and how the economy as a whole works
3. understand the role of public policy, and the constraints on its operation, when markets fail
4. understand how firms are organised and make decisions
5. have developed learning skills and begun to acquire the techniques of thinking like an economist
6. have sufficient grounding to attempt advanced studies in microeconomics in subsequent years.

Within semester assessment: 40% + Examination: 60%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

3 hours per week