310-W10

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ECON 310 Microeconomic Theory II Winter 2009-2010

Class Time: Tuesday 8:30-10:00am, Friday 10:00-11:30am, Location: DUP 215

Ying Shang, Dunning Hall 322, Tel. (613)533-6000 x77846, shangy@econ.queensu.ca
Office Hours:

Week 1 (Jan.11-15): No office hours, no assignment
Week 2 (Jan.18-22): Office hours, No assignment due
Week 3 (Jan.25-29): Office hours, Assignment #1 due
Week 4 (Feb.1-5): Office hours, Assignment #2 due
Week 5 (Feb.8-12): Office hours, Assignment #3 due
Week 6 (Feb.15-19): Office hours, Assignment #4 due
Reading Week (Feb.22-26): No class, No office hours, no assignment due
Week 7 (Mar.1-5): Tuesday's class has been cancelled. Friday's Midterm Exam is still on. Office hours (Tue. & Thur.), tutorial (Wed.)
Week 8 (Mar.8-12): No office hours, no assignment
Week 9 (Mar.15-19): Office hours, Assignment #5 due
Week 10 (Mar.22-26): Office hours, Assignment #6 due
Week 11 (Mar.29-Apr.2): Office hours, No assignment due
Week 12 (Apr.5-9): Office hours, Assignment 7 due (Tuesday)
EXAM PERIOD:

Chapter 1 (1.8, 1.10, exclude 1.9)
Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 (up to top of p.33))
Chapter 3 (3.1, 3.2, 3.3)
Chapter 4 (4.1, 4.3)
Chapter 5 (5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5)

Chapter 7 (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5)

Chapter 10 (10.2, 10.3)

Chapter 11 (11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.7, 11.9)

The midterm exam will cover the above materials only.

The final exam will cover everything below:

Chapter 15 (15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 15.10, 15.11, 15.12, 15.13)

Chapter 13 (13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5)

Chapter 14 (14.1, 14.5, 14.7, 14.8)

Chapter 16 (16.1, 16.3, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, 16.7, 16.10, 16.11)

Supplemental materials in game theory (limited to those topics we have discussed in class)

Announcements
Midterm Exam is on Friday, March 5, 2010, 10:00-11:20am, in class
All assignments are due on Friday at 1:00pm in the Assignment Drop Box for ECON 310. (It is on the second floor of Dunning Hall, facing the elevator.)
You may bring your assignment to Friday's class as well.
The Drop Box for 310 will disappear at 1:00pm each Friday. All late assignments or assignments dropped in the wrong box will carry a penalty of 50%. All LATE assignments should be slid under my office door; assignments dropped in the wrong box may never be seen again.
Assignment #1, due Friday, Jan.29, at 1:00pm:

#2.7; #3.3; #3.5
Now available for pick up at the Distribution Center.
Please see the attachments at the bottom of this page for the assigned questions from the book.
Please use this cover page with your assignment to reduce recording errors.

Announcement: Students who were enrolled in ECON 310 for this term, and who failed to achieve the minimum grade of 65 in the prerequisite course 212 or who failed econ 255, have been removed from ECON 310. Please check your qcard and contact the Undergraduate Office in The Department of Economics to work out a new schedule (such as repeating 2nd year courses, etc.).
Assignment #2, due Friday, Feb.5, at 1:00pm:

Assignment #3, due Friday, Feb.12, at 1:00pm:

#7.2 (replace the utility function U(x₁,x₂)=max{x₁,x₂ } by U(x₁,x₂)=x₁x₂);
#7.3;
#7.4 (replace indirect utility function v(p₁,p₂,m)=m/(p₁+p₂) by v(p₁,p₂,m)=m²/(p₁p₂) );
Use this cover page

Now available for pick up at the Distribution Center.

Past Midterm and Final Exam Questions are in the Attachments. The following questions will be relevant to our midterm exam.

Now available for pick up at the Distribution Center.

The tutorial for the midterm exam is scheduled on Wednesday, March 3, 4:00-5:30pm, Ellis 324. The TA will go over the past exam questions.
No new assignment this week (Feb.15-19).
The three chapters (see attachments below) from "An introduction to game theory" by Martin J. Osborne may be helpful to you to understand the basic concepts in game theory.
Please note the following events during the midterm exam week (March 1 to March 5)

March 2, Tuesday: class (and Ruqu Wang's office hour) has been cancelled due to some unexpected event.
March 2, Tuesday: TA's regular office hour is unchanged.
March 3, Wednesday: Tutorial Session, 4:00-5:30pm, Ellis 324.
March 4, Thursday: Ruqu Wang's office hour, 4:00-5:30pm.
March 5, Friday: Midterm Exam, 10:00-11:20am, in class.
My apologies for the class cancellation. Please help inform each other in the class.

Profit Maximization: how to maximize profit given a production function; how to obtain the profit function from the results of maximization; properties of profit functions; Hotelling's lemma
Cost Minimization: how to minimize cost given a production function; how to derive the cost function of a two-plant firm; how to obtain the cost function from cost minimization; properties of cost function; Shephard's lemma
Utility Maximization: how to maximize utility given a utility function; how to obtain an indirect utility function; properties of indirect utility function; how to obtain an expenditure function; important identities and Roy's identity
Uncertainty: how to maximize utility under uncertainty; how to calculate different measures of risk aversion
There will be 4 questions for the midterm exam, one on each topic above.

Anyone who needs special arrangement for the midterm exam please bring your documentations and see Jennine Ball (undergraduate assistant).
Assignment #5, due Friday, March 19, at 1:00pm:

More helpful game theory materials. Please see GameTheoryKockesen.pdf in the Attachments. Extensive-form games start from p.85 of the file.
Assignment #6, due Friday, March 26, at 1:00pm:

The left-over midterm exams are now in the Distribution Center.
Assignment #7, due Tuesday, April 6, at 2:00pm.
- Please see ASS7_10_310.pdf in the Attachments.
- Use this cover page
- Now available for pick up at the Distribution Center.
Practice Questions: 13.3; 13.6; 14.19; 16.10
Class participation mark is 9.
Please note: #3 in Final Exam 1998 and #3 in Final Exam 1999 are about the entry model, and they are not covered by this final exam. However, the questions are easy to solve using what we learned in class.