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INTERMEDIATEMICROECONOMICANALYSIS,220:320:03Fall2009

IlkerDastan OfficeHours:dastan@econ.rutgers.edu NewJerseyHall429

Lectures:T,Th2:504:10,FrelinghuysenHallB5 T,Th1:452:45

http://econ.rutgers.edu/dastan

______________________________________________________________________________

Prerequisites: 220:102(orequivalent)andCalculus640:135(orequivalent)

Textbooks:

DavidBesankoandRonaldR.Braeutigam,Microeconomics:AnIntegratedApproach,(3rdedition),Wiley,ISBN:9780470049242(2

ndeditionisalsofine.)

WalterNicholson,MicroeconomicTheory,(9thedition),Thomson/SouthWestern(optionaltosupportanalyticalcalculations),ISBN:0324270860

CourseObjectives:Theaimofthiscourseistogivestudentstheconceptualbasisandthenecessarytoolsfor

understandingmodernmicroeconomicsattheintermediatelevel.Thiscoursemakesextensive

useofcalculus.

Thiscourseexpandsonthetopicsoftheintroductiontomicroeconomicscourse:the

purchasingbehaviorofconsumersandtheproductionandsellingbehavioroffirms.Ineach

case,itisshownhowthebehaviorthateconomicspredictscanbedescribedbyasolutiontoan

optimizationproblem.Thisclasswilladdananalyticalapproachtothedescriptiveapproachof

theintroductioncourse.Youwilllearnhowtousemathematicstomodeleconomicconcepts.

Thiswillenableyoutorigorouslyanalyzeeconomicproblems.

GeneralInformationAttendance:Whileattendancewillnotbegraded,Iencourageyoutoattendclasses,asperformanceinthe

courseisusuallyhighlycorrelatedwithattendance.

Exams:Yourgradeforthecoursewillbebasedontwoclosedbookinclassexamsandfivequizzes.The

firstexamwillbeonOctober22andthesecondexamwillbeonNovember19.Thequizzesare

on

September

29,

October

13,

November

10,

December

3

and

December

10.

The

lowest

quiz

willbedropped.Theexamsareworth30%ofyourgradeeach,whilethequizzesareworth10%

each.Eachexamwillemphasizethematerialcoveredafterthepreviousexambutwillhavea

cumulativecomponent.

Examsmustbetakenontheassigneddayunlessyoupresentavalid,writtenexcusebeforethe

examorhaveanabsenceapprovedbytheDean'soffice.

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Grading:Nolettergradesareassignedtoindividualassignmentsorexams,onlynumericscoresfrom0to

100.Myplanisthatyourcoursegradewillbebasedonyouraggregatescore,calculatedby

combiningyourscoresonthreeexamsaccordingtothefollowingweights:

30%Firstexam 30%Secondexam 40%Quizzes(thelowestof5quizzeswillbedropped)

Ithenrankstudentsaccordingtotheseaggregatescores,andassigngradesbyclassrank,with

somesubjectivejudgmentappliedtoborderlinecases.Thus,thegradesforallyourclasswork

arejointly"curved"onceattheendofthecourse.

Ireservetherighttomakechangestothegradecalculationscheme,especiallythepercentagesallocatedtoeachexam.AcademicHonestyandCodeofConduct:Needless to say, you are expected to adhere to all of Rutgers University's policies and

regulations,

in

addition

to

normal

standards

of

acceptable

behavior.

Inparticular,youmustbefamiliarwithandadheretotheUniversity'sAcademicIntegrityPolicy,

availableat:

http://teachx.rutgers.edu/integrity/policy.html#Integrity

AnyviolationofthatpolicywillbereportedasrequiredbyUniversityprocedures.

TopicstobeCovered:IntroductiontoMicroeconomics

Chapter1:AnalyzingEconomicProblems Chapter2:DemandandSupplyAnalysis

ConsumerTheory

Chapter3:

Consumer

Preferences

and

The

Concept

of

Utility

Chapter4:ConsumerChoice Chapter5:TheTheoryofDemand

ProductionandCostTheory

Chapter6:InputsandProductionFunctions Chapter7:CostsandCostMinimization Chapter8:CostCurves

MarketStructure

Chapter9:PerfectlyCompetitiveMarkets Chapter10:CompetitiveMarkets:Applications Chapter

11:

Monopoly

and

Monopsony

Chapter12:CapturingSurplus Chapter13:MarketStructureandCompetition