Microeconomics

Catalog description

This course provides an overview of the economic analysis of firms, industries and markets. The overriding constraint is the scarcity of resources that actors face. We examine the rationales for decisions by individual buyers and sellers, as well as how these decisions are aggregated through markets. Among other things, we explore the forms that competition can take, the role of industry structure and the influence of government policies. The course is intended to provide the participants with tools and conceptual frameworks that they can use to better understand and analyze business decision-making and the market and government-policy environment within which businesses operate. In addition, the course develops analytical tools and logic that are useful in the study of strategy, finance, marketing, and other business areas. Some of the key concepts we will introduce include: -opportunity cost (which costs matter) -economic incentives (and how firms and individuals respond to them) -optimizing choices when faced by scarcity -strategic behavior (how to predict and respond to your rivals’ decisions) -market power (the impact of buyer or seller concentration) -externalities (when economic activities impact 3rd parties) -asymmetric information (what happens when economic actors know something others do not)