Microeconomics

Catalog description

All functional areas of business-accounting, finance, marketing, and production-employ microeconomic techniques and principles. The goal of this course is threefold. First, it teaches the economic techniques and principles utilized in the functional areas. Second, it introduces the notion of a market, and teaches the role of market forces in determining the opportunities facing individuals and firms. Third, it teaches students how to think like an economist. The course is divided into three parts: Part I focuses on the basic ideas concerning how markets operate, including topics such as consumer behavior, costs of production, and the operation of what are called perfectly competitive markets. Part II considers market power, i.e., what happens when rather than being a price taker each firm faces its own downward sloping demand curve. Part III considers additional topics including the decision to produce or purchase an input and the role of contracts in business decision making.