Prelims Microeconomics

Scheduling: We meet in Weeks 2--8, usually on Wednesday afternoon, in FB1 Room 10. In Week 2 only, we will meet exceptionally on Thursday. Our first three meetings will be as a single group of 7, held at the following times:

• • Week 2: Thu 4:00--6:00pm

  • Week 3 and 4: Wed 4:00--6:00pm

Thereafter we shall meet in two groups, on Wednesday afternoons, at the following times:

• • 4:00--5:20pm: Melina, Thomas, Carys, Joshua

  • 5:30--6:50pm: Oliver, Laura, Marcus

Problem sets: Each week -- no later than Tuesday evening -- I shall assign a subset of the problems from the tutorial worksheets posted on the course weblearn page. These must be submitted to me, via the Lodge, by 5pm on Monday. I will not grade your answers to all the problems that have been assigned, but only a certain subset of these; in the classes I shall give priority to going through the solutions to those questions that I do not grade.

I shall also assign readings to supplement the lecture slides: these will be taken from the CORE textbook, The Economy, and J. M. Perloff (2014) Microeconomics with Calculus, 3rd ed. (Other editions are fine, but may have different sectioning.) The CORE book is available online here; enough hardcopies of both textbooks, for each of you to borrow simultaneously, are available from the Corpus Library. You may also find it helpful to occasionally consult the Maths Workbook that I sent you a copy of during the summer (also available here).

Format: While the classes will focus mostly on covering the solutions to the problem sets, I am very happy to discuss any questions you may have about the lecture material (and assigned readings). It would help if you could email me any questions that arise in advance of our meeting, so I have a chance to think about them.

Tutorial 1 (Week 2)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 1, Problems 1--3 and Question 7

Readings: The Economy, Ch 1--2

Tutorial 2 (Week 3)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 2, Problems 1, 2, 3, 5. Make some notes on, but do not submit, Questions 1--3: we will discuss some of these in class if time permits

Readings: The Economy, Ch 3; and J. M. Keynes's essay 'Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren', of which an imperfectly scanned (but legible) copy is available here.

Tutorial 3 (Week 4)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 3, Problems 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8

Readings: Perloff, Ch 3 ('Consumer Theory') and Ch 4 ('Demand')

Tutorial 4 (Week 5)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 4, Problems 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (due Monday of Week 5) + the essay below (due Monday of Week 6)

Write an essay on Question 1 ('The concept of Nash equilibrium ...'): 800--1000 words in length; the essay must be typed, with at least 1.5 spacing, and margins of at least 2cm. Any accompanying figures may be drawn by hand (but please label these 'Figure 1', Figure 2', etc., and refer to them in this manner in the text). Before you start, make sure to consult: 'Preparing for Examinations in Economics' (which has a lengthy section on how to write an economics essay) and 'Marking Criteria for Essay Questions in Economics' (but note that, at Oxford, grades in excess of 75 for an essay are almost unheard of), which can be found in the 'Examinations' section on the Undergraduate Economics weblearn site.

Readings: The Economy, Ch 4--5; Perloff, Ch 13 ('Game Theory')

Tutorial 5 (Week 6)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 5, Questions 2, 3, 4, 6

Readings: The Economy, Ch 6; Perloff, Ch 6 ('Firms and Production') and Ch 7 ('Costs')

Tutorial 6 (Week 7)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 6, Questions 1, 3, 4, 5

Readings: The Economy, Ch 7; Perloff, Ch 5 ('Consumer Welfare and Policy Analysis'), Ch 11 ('Monopoly and Monopsony') and Ch 14 ('Oligopoly')

Tutorial 7 (Week 8)

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 7, Questions 4, 6, 7, 8 [submission deadline extended to 5pm Tuesday]

Readings: The Economy, Ch 8; Perloff, Ch 8 ('Competitive Firms and Markets') and Ch 9 ('Applications of the Competitive Model')

Tutorial 8 (Hilary, Week 1): Friday, 3:30--5:30pm

Please submit your work to me by noon on Friday of Week 0.

Problems: Tutorial Sheet 8, Questions 2 and 3.

Write an essay on Question 7 ('Since markets allocate resources ...'), 800--1000 words in length.

Readings: The Economy, Ch 12, 19 and 20; Perloff Ch 17 ('Externalities and Public Goods'), Ch 18 ('Information') and Ch 19 ('Contract Theory')

Revision Classes

Held on Wednesdays, 16:30--18:30, in Weeks 5 and 7, via Zoom. In preparation for these classes, please prepare bullet-point outline responses for each of the nominated essay questions. I have also indicated some relevant previous problem questions, which we may discuss briefly if time permits. (Please note that because of recent changes to this paper, some of the questions below may refer to material from other parts of the course.)

We will devote most of the classes by discussing how the essay questions: I will be reliant on your input here, so you need to have looked at these carefully in advance of the class.

A "Prelims Collection", covering the entirety of the Prelims Economics course, and in the same format as past Prelims exams, will be held at 9:30--13:30 on Friday of Week 9.

Revision Class 1 (Trinity, Week 5)

• • Lecture material: MT1--MT4

  • Essay questions: 2016TTq7, 2017TTq7, 2017LVq8, 2018TTq7

  • Problems: 2019TTq3, 2018TTq1(a)-(c), 2017TTq1(a)-(e)

[Note: 2017LV = 2017 Long Vac exam, etc. -- these are all available on OXAM.]

Revision Class 2 (Week 7)

• • Lecture Material: MT5--MT8

  • Essay questions: 2018TTq8, 2018LVq7, 2018LVq8

  • Problems: 2019TTq2, 2018TTq2, 2018TTq3, 2017TTq2