Syllabus
Updated A.Y. 2021-2022
Textbook:
H.R. Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics (latest edition), W.W. Norton & Company
Workbook (for practice classes):
T.C. Bergstrom and H.R. Varian, Workouts in Intermediate Microeconomics (latest edition), W.W. Norton & Company
________________________________________
List of topics (for Part I):
Budget constraint (chapter 2)
• The Budget Constraint
• Two Goods are Often Enough
• Properties of the Budget Set
• How the Budget Line Changes
• The Numeraire
• Taxes, Subsidies, and Rationing
Preferences (chapter 3)
• Consumer Preferences
• Assumption about Preferences
• Inidifference Curves
• Examples of Preferences:
o Perfect Substitutes, Perfect Complements, Bads, Neutral, Satiation, Discrete Goods
• Well Behaved-Preferences
• The Marginal Rate of Substitution
• Other Interepretation of the Marginal Rate of Substitution
• Behavior of the Marginal Rate of Substitution
Utility (chapter 4)
• Cardinal Utility
• Construction a Utility Function
• Some Examples of Utility Functions:
o Perfect Substitutes
o Perfect Complements
o Quasilinear Preferences
o Cobb-Douglas Preferences
• Marginal Utility
• Marginal Utility and Marginal Rate of Substitution
Choice (chapter 5)
• Optimal Choice
• Consumer Demand
• Some Examples:
o Perfect Substitues
o Perfect Complements
o Neutrals and Bads
o Discrete Goods
o Concave Preferences
o Codd-Douglas Preferences
• Implications of the MRS Condition
• Choosing Taxes
Demand (chapter 6)
• Normal and Inferior Goods
• Income Offer Curves and Engel Curves
• Some Examples:
o Perfect Substutes
o Perfcet Complements
o Cobb-Douglas Preferences
o Homothetic Preferences
o Quasilinear Preferences
• Ordinary Goods and Giffen Goods
• Price Offer Curve and Demand Curve
• Some examples:
o Perfect Substitutes
o Perfect Complements
o Discrete Good
• Substitutes and Complements
• The Inverse Demand Function
• Appendix (on Quasilinear Preferences)
Slutsky Equation (chapter 8)
• The Subsitution Effect
• The Income Effect
• Sign of the Subsitution Effect
• The Total Change in Demand
• Rates of Change
• The Law of Demand
• Examples of Income and Substitution Effects
Buying and Selling (chapter 9)
• Net and Gross Demands
• The Budget Constraint
• Changing the Endowment
• Price Changes
• Offer Curves and Demand Curves
• The Slitsky Equation Revisited
• Use of the Slutsky Equation
• Labor Supply
• Comparative Statics of the Labor Supply
Intertemporal Choice (chapter 10)
• The Budget Constraint
• Preferences and Consumption
• Comparative Statistics
• The Slutsky Equation and Intertemporal Choice
• Inflation
• Present Value: A Closer Look
• Analyzing Present Value for Several Periods
Uncertainty (chapter 12)
• Contingent Consumption
• Utility Functions and Probabilities
• Expected Utility
• Why Expected Utilty is Reasonable
• Risk Aversion
________________________________________
Exercises (numbers refer to the exercises from Workouts)
Exercises on chapter 2: 2.1 to 2.10
Exercises on chapter 3: 3.1 (only up to (g)), 3.3, 3.9 (excluded (d))
Exercises on chapter 4: 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.11, 4.12
Exercises on chapter 5: 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.7
Exercises on chapter 6: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.6
Exercises on chapter 8: 8.1, 8.4, 8.5, 8.10, 8.11
Exercises on chapter 9: 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8
Exercises on chapter 10: 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5
Exercises on chapter 12: 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 12.8, 12.9, 12.11, 12.12