Universität Wien
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040055 KU KU Applied Microeconomics (MA) (2021W)

8.00 ECTS (4.00 SWS), SPL 4 - Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 100 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 04.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 05.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 11.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 12.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 18.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 19.10. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 25.10. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Monday 08.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 09.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 16.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Tuesday 16.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Seminarraum 13 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 2.Stock
  • Monday 22.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 23.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 29.11. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 30.11. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 06.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 07.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 13.12. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 14.12. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 10.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 11.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 17.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 18.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 24.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Tuesday 25.01. 13:15 - 14:45 Digital
  • Monday 31.01. 16:45 - 18:15 Digital
  • Monday 28.02. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 4 Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1 Erdgeschoß

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the main tools and ideas in Microeconomics, with a special focus on (re)-distribution and fairness.
The course will consist of theory sections (lecture form) and practical sessions (recitation and discussions). The course will take place online (due to covid restrictions). All the materials will be available in Moodle before the class.
For those students who partake in the Masters in Applied Economics, there will be a separate "exercise course" (Ubung). This course is complementary but not necessary to follow it. It will consist of "empirical projects" that would enable you to relate the concepts discussed here with real-world phenomena.

Assessment and permitted materials

There will be two written exams (in person except for justified reasons), each worth 40%. In addition, there will be problem sets and readings to discuss. The grade of these will be 20%.

The exam dates are:
Mid-Term:
Monday, November 15, 15.00 – 16.30 h, Hörsaal 14
or Monday, November 15, 16.45 – 18.15 h, Hörsaal 14
End-Term:
Tuesday, February 1, 11.30 – 13.00 h, Hörsaal 1

Both the final and the midterm may be retaken in February, but only if you took part in the original exam. If the exam is retaken, the grade is automatically replaced by the new exam.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The grading will be as follows.
>85%, 1
70-85%, 2
60-70%, 3
50-60%, 4
less than 50%, 5.

Examination topics

Topics.
1. Preferences and choice.
2. Allocations and Judgements.
3. Exchange Economies: Competitive Equilibrium and Welfare Theorems.
4. Production. Perfect and Imperfect Competition.
4. Labor markets and redistribution.
5. Limits to Markets: Externalities and Morals. Information Asymmetries.

Reading list

There is no single book that covers the topics in this course. I have prepared a reference list with three main strands.
1. Resources to understand key concepts:
Varian's 'Intermediate Microeconomics' provides a comprehensive and easily accessible introduction to the main concepts of the course, while his (Varian's) Microeconomic Analysis provides a deeper level coverage of the same topics. The level of the course will lie somewhat in between these two books.
Ariel Rubinstein's book is available online and is at a similar level as Varian's Microeconomic Theory (you can download it here https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/1171)
The connection with empirical work in these books is scant; a good reference in this regard is this collection of lecture notes (https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-03-microeconomic-theory-and-public-policy-fall-2016/lecture-notes/ )
2. Questions-Based Books:
Pancs' "Lectures in Microeconomics" is more advanced and has a more modern focus. We will follow the "questions approach" in this book but at a lower level of sophistication. The CORE-Econ Project (available here https://www.core-econ.org/) provides a good introduction to some of the topics but a more superficial level.
3. Mathematical Tools: For students who are interested in obtaining a deep understanding of economic theory but have a weaker math background, I recommend Simon and Blume's "Mathematics for Economists" (in particular Chapters 1-5 and 14-17). For a very basic introduction to the mathematical tools that we will use, see the first chapter of Van Zandt's book ( https://faculty.insead.edu/vanzandt/teaching/FPM-Aug2012.pdf )

4. In addition, these are required readings for specific classes (to be announced exactly when)
'The Use of Knowledge in Society' F. Hayek, AER 1945
'On The Economic Theory of Socialism' O. Lange, Restud 1936
"Why Surfers Should be Fed: The Liberal Case for an Unconditional Basic Income" Van Parijs, Philosophy and Public Affairs. 1991
'Lessons from the Kibbutz on the equality-incentives trade-off'. R. Abramitzky, JEP, 2011.
'What money can't buy: the moral limits of markets' The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Oxford University, 1998 (also available as a book)
'Repugnance as a constraint to markets' A. Roth, JEP, 2007
'The Problem of Social Cost' by R. Coase, JLE, 1972. (pp. 1-28)

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:12