Course code:

HS3027

Level:

M - Intermediate

Lab fee:

30

Typically offered:

Yearly

What is the best way to insure that communities can provide dependable, well-paying jobs to their citizens?

Why does Coca Cola spend millions of dollars to advertise a product with which most people are already very familiar?

What can the game of blackjack tell us about how industries are structured? How can we get coal-burning power utilities to reduce their carbon emissions while they save millions of dollars in the process? How can we provide much better health care to all Americans, at much less cost, while making it easier for small businesses to grow? All of these questions, and many more like them, are answered by microeconomic theory.

This intermediate-level course exposes students to basic microeconomic theories, models, and concepts that shed insight on the economic behavior of businesses, individuals, governments and politicians, and international organizations. We will emphasize approaches that have numerous overlapping applications to both business and policy evaluation: markets, pricing, firm structure and decision-making, strategic behavior (using game theory), consumer behavior, externalities (such as greenhouse gas emissions), and the provision of public goods (such as military, education, and environmental conservation).

We will pay special attention to the economics of asymmetrical information (adverse selection, moral hazard, and principal-agent situations) that have a wide range of applications, including issues such as the ineffectiveness of the American health care system, the structuring of business finance, and the hiring and paying of employees.

This will be a non-calculus course, but will give students exposure to technical economic modeling, with heavy emphasis on graphical modeling of complex social phenomena. We will use a lab period to conduct extensive experiments and games that illustrate or test economic concepts and hypotheses.

Prerequisites:

Signature of instructor or one course in economics or business.

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.