Introductory Microeconomics

Paper Code: 
24CECO 111
Credits: 
6
Contact Hours: 
90.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 
  1. To orient the students with the basics of economics
  2. To examine the interactions of supply and demand and characteristics of    perfect and imperfect markets
  3. To describe the various concepts of input markets

 

Course Outcomes: 

Course Code

Course Title

Learning outcome (at course level)

Learning and Teaching Strategies

Assessment Strategies

24CECO111

 

 

 

 

Introductory

Microeconomics

(Theory)

 

Students will:

CO1: comprehend the fundamentals of microeconomics and related concepts.

CO2: examine the concepts of demand and supply, elasticity of demand and consumer’s surplus.

CO3: analyze the consumer behaviour through cardinal and ordinal utility approach

CO4: examinethemarkets under perfect competition and imperfect competition

CO5: examine the behaviour of input markets

CO 6: contribute effectively in course-specific interaction.

Teaching Strategies:

Interactive lectures, Discussion,

Case studies

 

Learning Strategies:

Presentation,

Assignments, Group discussions

Class activity,

Assignments and

Semester end examinations

 

18.00
Unit I: 
Exploring the Subject Matter of Economics
  • Scope and method of economics
• The economic problem: scarcity and choice; the question of what to produce, how
to produce and how to distribute output
• Science of economics; the basic competitive model
• Rationing; opportunity sets
• Economic systems
• Reading and working with graphs
18.00
Unit II: 
Supply and Demand
  • Determinants of individual demand/supply
• Demand/supply schedule and demand/supply curve
• Market versus individual demand/supply
• Shifts in the demand/supply curve, demand and supply together
• Elasticity of demand-types
• Measurement of price elasticity of demand, and its application
• Consumer’s surplus
18.00
Unit III: 
The Households
  • The consumption decision – cardinal utility approach; TU and MU
• Law of diminishing Marginal utility, law of equi marginal utility
• Derivation of demand curve
• Budget constraint
• Ordinal Utility Approach - representing preferences with indifference curves
properties of indifference curves; consumer‘s optimum choice
• Income, price and substitution effects (Hicksian approach)
18.00
Unit IV: 
The Firm and Market Structure
• Perfect Competition: characteristics of perfect competition; Behaviour of profit
maximizing firms and the production process; short run costs and output decisions;
costs and output in the long run
• Imperfect Competition: Monopoly- meaning and equilibrium of monopolist,
government policies towards monopoly; imperfect competition- meaning and
characteristics of monopolistic and oligopoly markets
18.00
Unit V: 
Input Markets
• Basic concepts-derived demand, productivity of an input, marginal productivity,
value of marginal product and marginal revenue product of labour
• Demand for labour; input demand curves; shifts in input demand curves
• Supply of labour and backward bending supply curve of labour
• Competitive labour markets
Essential Readings: 
1. Karl, E. C. and Ray C. F., Principles of Economics, Pearson Education Inc.,
8th Edition, 2007
89
2. Mankiw, N. G., Economics: Principles and Applications, Cengage, Learning India
Private Limited, 4th edition, 2007
References: 
Suggesting Readings:
Stiglitz, J. E. and Walsh, C. E, Economics, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York,
4th Edition, 2007
E- Resources
1. Steven A. Greenlaw, Principles of Microeconomics, Second Edition, OpenStax
(2017).
2. Dirk Mateer and Lee Coppock, Principles of Microeconomics, Third Edition, W.
W. Norton & Company (2020).
Journals
1. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics,
2. Journal of Economics, https://www.springer.com/journal/712
Academic Session: 
2024-25
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