Course teached as: B020829 - MICROECONOMICS 1 Second Cycle Degree in ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT Curriculum ECONOMICS
Teaching Language
English
Course Content
Individual preferences. Introduction to social choice theory. Choice under uncertainty. Simultaneous-move games. Monopoly and Oligopoly. Consumer Theory. Competitive equilibrium in pure exchange economies. Pareto optimality and welfare theorems.
Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M.D., Green, J.R., 1995. Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, New York.
Learning Objectives
To understand the formal structure and the interpretation of the basic models of microeconomic theory.
Prerequisites
Basic linear algebra. Topology in euclidean spaces. Calculus for functions of one variable and several variables. Optimization under equality constraints. Basic probability theory.
Teaching Methods
Classroom lectures.
Further information
The course will be given by two instructors: Michele Gori and Domenico Menicucci.
Type of Assessment
Written and oral examination.
Course program
Individual preferences: preference relations, completeness and transitivity; utility functions; choice sets. Social choice theory: linear orders, preference profiles and social choice correspondences; Condorcet, unanimity, neutrality and anonymity principles; Condorcet, Borda and Copeland social choice functions; an existence result. Consumer theory: commodity space; representation of preferences via utility functions; budget set and consumer problem; demand correspondence/function; marginal rate of substitution. Choice under uncertainty: expected utility theory; money lotteries and risk aversion; first and second order stochastic dominance between payoff distributions. Game theory: basic elements of non-cooperative games; simultaneous-move games; dominant and dominated strategies; Nash equilibrium in pure and mixed strategies. Market power: monopoly pricing and price discrimination; oligopoly models. General equilibrium theory: competitive equilibrium in pure exchange economies; Walras' law; the case of two consumers and two commodities and Edgeworth's box; existence of equilibria; differential characterization of equilibria; Pareto optimality and welfare theorems; differential characterization of Pareto optimal allocations.