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Course Description Form
Course Code
Course Title
Credit Value
QF Level
Pre-requisite
Objectives
Course
Intended
Learning
Outcomes
(CILOs)
ECN1001
Introduction to Economics
3
4
None
The course aims to:
1. Enable students to identify real world phenomena and data
patterns associated with economic activity at the micro and the
macro levels, and to relate such phenomena and data to
business situations.
2. Explain the behavior of consumers, firms, markets, and
governments as maximizing choices made under different
decision levels, conditions, and constraints.
3. Inculcate the ideas that in economics it is of primary
importance to search for explanations which are empirically
meaningful, and that it is of equal importance to test the
scientific status of the analysis by matching its predictions with
data.
4. Instruct students on the implications of economic analysis for
the formulation and implementation of business policy.
5. Train students to avoid the tendency – which is becoming
increasingly widespread in applied economic discussion – to
profess tautological statements which are scientifically
meaningless and practically useless, especially in business
decision- making.
Upon satisfactory completion of this course, the student should be
able to:
1. Understand the fundamental microeconomic concepts of
demand, supply, consumer behavior, firm behavior,
competition, and business organization, together with related
real-world phenomena.
2. Understand the fundamental macroeconomic concepts of
market equilibrium, prices, outputs, resource allocation,
wealth, income, growth, employment, unemployment, national
budgets, and inflation, together with related real-world
phenomena.
3. Interpret the above concepts in terms of maximizing choice
under different decision levels, conditions and constraints.
4. Explain contemporary developments, problems, and
controversies in terms of the microeconomic and
macroeconomic concepts of rational choice, market efficiency,
market failure, public goods, income distribution, property
rights, monetary policy, inflation, fiscal policy, taxation, the
national debt, and growth.
© Tung Wah College 2011
5.
Course
Synopsis/
Indicative
Syllabus
Learning &
Teaching
Methodology
Prepare case studies on the behavior of consumers, firms, and
public organizations in a modern market economy like Hong
Kong, to predict changes in such behavior under different
conditions and regulatory environments, and identify and
evaluate the implications for business policy.
6. Communicate effectively on economic analysis, real-world
phenomena, data patterns, and public policy, especially as
directed towards the business sector.
1. Introduction: The individual in the market economy.
2. Consumer behavior: Preferences, choice, and demand.
3. Firm behavior: Production, cost, and supply.
4. Market equilibrium, competition, and resource allocation.
5. Market structure, market efficiency, market failure, and
government policy.
6. Economic welfare, taxation, public goods.
7. Factor markets and income distribution.
8. The data of macroeconomics: gross domestic product and the
price level.
9. Macroeconomic performance in the long run: Growth and its
determinants.
10. Saving, investment, and interest rates.
11. Money, banking, and inflation.
12. Macroeconomic performance in the short run: Business cycles
and unemployment.
13. The open economy and international trade.
14. Review and project presentation.
Lecture
Lectures will be delivered on the fundamental ideas and concepts of
microeconomics and macroeconomics, their real-world relevance,
and important practical applications.
Tutorials/Classes
Tutorials in the form of discussion classes will be conducted in
small groups. Discussion topics will be based on previous lecture
material, selected questions from the textbook, and contemporary
issues. The objective is to help individuals better understand the
instruction and apply the content to interpret and resolve economic
problems, both hypothetical and in the real world. Students will
therefore be encouraged to participate in the discussion and to argue
positively and exchange ideas, views, and positions.
Assessment
Methods in
Alignment
with Course
Intended
Specific assessment
methods/tasks
© Tung Wah College 2011
%
weighting
Course intended learning
outcomes to be assessed
(Please tick as appropriate)
a
b c d e
f
Learning
Outcomes
 Lecture and Class
Performance
 Assignments/Case
Studies
 Group Project
 Written
Examination
Total
10%
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20%
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
40%
30%




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


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100 %
Explanation of the appropriateness of the assessment methods in
assessing the intended learning outcomes:
Assignments/Case Studies
As assignments, students will be required to prepare case studies on
economic problems of current interest, and to deliver them in short
presentations (fifteen to twenty minutes) in class. The object is to
train students in public delivery, assess their academic strengths and
weaknesses in an indirect manner, provide regular feedback on
learning progress, and to identify directions for improvement.
Group Projects
Students will be grouped and required to submit a long case study,
with detailed discussion of problem choice, data collection,
hypothesis formulation, and empirical relevance. In addition to
academic knowledge, this exercise will test the individual’s ability
to work co-operatively and to communicate and argue effectively.
Written Examination
There will be a 2-hour written examination at the end of the
semester. The objective is to assesses, under time and mnemonic
constraints, the student’s understanding of material covered in the
textbook, lectures, and classes and the ability to apply this
knowledge to interpret and resolve economic problems and business
policy issues in the real world.
Student Study Class contact:
Effort
 Lectures
28 Hrs.
Required
 Tutorials
14 Hrs.
Outside study:

Assignments/Case Studies
28 Hrs.

Group Projects
60 Hrs.
Total student study time
130 Hrs.
© Tung Wah College 2011
Reading List
and
References
Textbook
Mankiw, N.G. Principles of Economics, 6th edition. Mason OH:
South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012.
© Tung Wah College 2011