ECO2060F, Fall 2014
This is the public “front end” for the more detailed course website that will eventually be accessible through the University of Toronto Portal (Blackboard).
Course Description
This is the core microeconomics course for students in the MA program in Economics. The course has a number objectives:
- To provide a rigorous, self-contained presentation of the most important concepts in microeconomic theory;
- To serve as both a capstone course in microeconomics training, and a stepping stone between undergraduate and PhD studies;
- To support MA students in their other graduate course-work, especially in applied micro fields (e.g., trade, labour, development, financial economics, IO, public economics).
The course is taught in two modules of six weeks.
- Module 1: The Competitive Model (aka, "Supply and Demand").
- In this module, the focus is on the behavior of price-taking individuals in perfectly competitive markets.
- The foundation is a carefully-developed theory of consumer behavior, focusing on individual responses to prices (incentives).
- In this module, we also cover the market determination of prices (in general equilibrium)
- Throughout, linkages are drawn between behavior, market outcomes, consumer, and social welfare;
- Given the analytic similarity with consumer theory, we also provide a brief overview of producer theory.
- Module 2: Imperfect Markets and Strategic Interaction
- In this module, we relax the assumption of price taking behavior, and consider more general forms of economic interaction, incorporating uncertainty, imperfect information, and strategic behaviour.
- Topics include: choice under uncertainty;
- Game theory, including applications to oligopoly and auctions;
- Imperfect information, including adverse selection, signalling, and moral hazard.
Contact Information
Professor Dwayne Benjamin (First Module)
150 St. George Street, #138
Email:dwayne.benjamin@utoronto.ca
Professor Colin Stewart (Second Module)
150 St. George Street, #223
Email:colinbstewart@gmail.com
Readings
There is no "official" required textbook for this course. That said, students will benefit from having at least one reference-quality graduate-level textbook in microeconomics.
- For the first half of the course, the most useful textbooks are (1) Economics and Consumer Behaviour (Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer), and (2) Microeconomic Analysis (Hal Varian). Both books are available at the Textbook store, or online.
- For the game theory portion second half, useful textbooks include (1) Game Theory for Applied Economists (Robert Gibbons), and (2) An Introduction to Game Theory (Martin Osborne).
Evaluation Scheme
The evaluation scheme has not been finalized, but is comprised of two parts:
- Two term tests: one at the end of each module;
- Problem sets, and possibly other "low-stakes" exercises (like in-class writing);
Lectures
Classes are scheduled Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 to 11:00. Tutorials are held in class time (approximately) once every second week.
Syllabus
The course syllabus will be available closer to the first day of classes, Tuesday, September 9th.