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ECN311 Microeconomics III

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Kyrre Rickertsen

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Engelsk

Course frequency:Annually

Nominal workload:250 hours. About 50 hours are used to structured activities while 200 hours are unstructured time that the students should allocate to reading and solving problems.

Teaching and exam period:This course starts in Autumn parallel. This course has teaching/evaluation in Autumn parallel.

About this course

The course extends the material covered in intermediate courses in microeconomics by using mathematical tools. Special emphasis is put on duality theory in economics. The lectures cover the theory of the consumer, welfare measures, the theory of the producer, and behavior under uncertainty.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The student should know:

- How to derive the basic results of producer and consumer theory by using duality theory;

- How to derive welfare measures; and

- The theory of choice under uncertainty including the expected utility theory.

Skills

The student should be able to:

- Formulate researchable economic problems to address them;

- Conduct microeconomic analysis based on commonly used functional forms in applied economics;

- Calculate welfare measures; and

- Do comparative statics by using parametric and non-parametric methods.

General competence

The student should be able to:

- Develop the knowledge to follow economic reasoning in reports and articles in applied economics;

- Develop the knowledge to utilize economic reasoning in his/her own work, for example, in courses in applied economics and the work with the master thesis;

- Develop the knowledge to detect logical flaws in economic reasoning and analysis; and

- Develop an economic mindset based on analytical, logical and critical thinking.

  • Learning activities
    Teaching on campus without streaming. Lectures and independent work such as reading the textbook and solving problem sets are important parts of the course. The students are encouraged to work in groups, but the problem sets have to be turned in for individual grading. It is important to get started with all the activities early in the semester.
  • Teaching support

    You can make an appointment with the lecturer by sending an e-mail to the lecturer.

    The TA will assist on the exercises.

  • Prerequisites
    Microeconomics on the level of ECN210 Intermediate Microeconomics - Consumers, Producers, Market and Welfare and Mathematics on the level of ECN302 Mathematics for Economists.
  • Recommended prerequisites
    Intermediate courses in economics such as, for example, ECN211 Intermediate Microeconomics - Institutions, Games and Market Failures.
  • Assessment method
    Final exam (3,5 hours) that accounts for 100% of the grade.

    Written exam Grading: Letter grades Permitted aids: B1 Calculator handed out, no other aids
  • Examiner scheme
    The course is evaluated by an internal examiner. An external examiner will control the quality of syllabus, questions for the final examination, and principles for the assessment of the examination answers.
  • Mandatory activity
    Five problem sets must be approved before taking the final examination. The problem sets are valid the year they are approved and the next year.
  • Notes
    The course is in English. Incoming students can contact student advisors at the School of Economics and Business (studieveileder-hh@nmbu.no) for admission to the course.
  • Teaching hours
    There are four hours of lectures and exercises per week. About 60% of the time will be allocated to lectures and 40% to exercises.
  • Admission requirements
    Minimum requirements for entrance to higher education in Norway (generell studiekompetanse)