Download Economics. Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI MEDITERRANEA DI REGGIO CALABRIA
Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza ed Economia
Comparto didattica
A): GENERAL INFORMATION:
 Degree Course:
Economics
 Course name:
Economics. Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
 Professor:
Alessandro Diego Scopelliti
 Other Professors:
_______________________________________________
 Scientific disciplinary sector: SECS-P/01
 University credits – ECTS
12
 Teaching hours: 72
 Course year:
 Semester/year:
First year
Second Semester
B) SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
 Synthetic description of course:
The course is composed of two parts: microeconomics and macroeconomics. In the first
part, focused on the analysis of individual choices, we will examine the behaviour of
households and firms in a market economy. In the second part, focused on the analysis of
aggregate behaviours, we will study how an economic system works at the aggregate level,
starting from the private sector (households and firms) and then including the public sector,
the financial sector and the exchanges with the rest of the world.
 Course entry requirements:
Mathematics for Economics
 Expected learning results:
1. Knowledge and understanding. Knowledge and understanding of the basic microeconomic
models for the analysis of the consumer’s behaviour and of the firm’s choice in different
contexts. Knowledge and understanding of the basic macroeconomic models for the study of
the impact of aggregate shocks and of the effects of economic policies.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding. Knowledge has to be applied to the analysis of
specific cases and to the solution of simple numerical exercises.
UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI MEDITERRANEA DI REGGIO CALABRIA
Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza ed Economia
Comparto didattica
3. Making judgements. The student will have to understand which model is more appropriate
for the analysis of real cases, what are the relevant aspects of different models and what are
the pros and cons of using those models for descriptive or forecasting purposes.
4. Communication ability. The student will be able to illustrate methods and conclusions, with
regard to concrete cases, by using the proper language and the appropriate theoretical tools,
as well as to present in a clear and correct manner the relevant concepts and the analytical
categories.
5. Learning ability. The student will have to understand the analytical categories and their
contexts of application, and will have to learn the logic and the approach for analysing the
behaviour of different economic agents. The student will have to solve basic exercises of
numerical analysis in a correct and argued way.
 Course programme:
Microeconomics
Optimal choice under constraints: the economic behaviour – A graphical analysis of demand
and supply – The consumer’s choice: preferences and utility – Indifference curves and
budget constraint – Income and consumption – Price effect: income effect and substitution
effect – Price effect and demand – The price elasticity of demand – The firm’s revenues:
total, average and marginal values – Price elasticity of demand and firm’s revenues –
Productivity and costs in the short-run – The firm’s supply curve – Optimal input
combination and long-run productivity – Isoquants and isocosts - Scale economies and
long-run costs – Profit maximisation and alternative approaches to firm’s behaviour –
Market Structure: common features and specific differences – Perfect competition – Origins
and limits of monopoly – Price discrimination – Monopolistic competition – Collusion and
competition in oligopoly – The strategic behaviour of firms in oligopoly (Bertrand, Cournot,
Stackelberg) – Asymmetric information and principal-agent problem – Moral hazard and
adverse selection
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomic issues: economic growth, inflation and unemployment - A simplified
model of the economic system: the circular flow model – Leakages and injections – National
accounts – The determination of the equilibrium income level in the short-run: alternative
approaches – Aggregate demand and national income – The Keynesian consumption
function and the multiplier effect – Life cycle and permanent income hypothesis – Public
sector and national income – Public intervention and fiscal policy – Money market: demand
and supply – The role of central banks in the control of money supply – Targets and tools of
monetary policy – The IS-LM model – The crowding-out effect of fiscal policy – Balance of
payments and exchange rates – The IS-LM model in an open economy – Labour market and
aggregate supply – Natural rate of unemployment – Okun’s law – The medium-run analysis:
the AD-AS model – Monetary policy and fiscal policy in the medium-run – Inflation and
unemployment: the Phillips curve – Stagflation and inflationary expectations – The crisis of
2007-2010: causes, effects and economic policy solutions.
 Verification system of learning results:
The learning outcomes will be verified through a written exam, which will be divided in two
parts (microeconomics and macroeconomics). Given the structure of the course, in order to
UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI MEDITERRANEA DI REGGIO CALABRIA
Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza ed Economia
Comparto didattica
encourage an effective learning process, it is advisable that students take the two written
exams in microeconomics and macroeconomics in two different exam sessions.
 Description of verification system of learning results:
The written exam will consist of open questions and of analytical exercises. In the open
questions, the student will have to describe the theoretical concepts, also by using graphical
representations and/or analytical derivations (if employed in the explanation of the concepts
in the lectures). In the analytical exercises, the student will have to apply the theoretical
principles and concepts with respect to some concrete examples, both in microeconomics
and in macroeconomics, by employing – depending on the questions – graphical
representations and numerical calculus.
 Suggested texts
The suggested texts are also available in the English edition, in particular:
Katz M.L., Rosen H.S. and Morgan W., Microeconomics, McGraw-Hill, 2009.
Blanchard O., Amighini A. and Giavazzi F., Macroeconomics. A European Perspective,
Pearson, 2013.