Advanced Microeconomics I (2012)
Last up-dated: June 6 2012
Office Hours:
Instructor, Yosuke YASUDA: Mondays 10:00-12:00 or by appointment (Room C911)
TA: Ryoko SUSUKIDA: by appointment (Student ID: PhD10001)
1. Important Announcement
There is no TA session on June 6. May 31
The final exam will be on June 6 (Wed) from 9:00 am. May 17
The lecture on May 2 (Wednesday) is cancelled. TA session will be held instead (from 9 am). May 1
We have the first lecture today, 16:40 - 18:10 at room 5F. April 5
This web page is under construction. February 14
2. Course Description syllabus
This is an advanced course in microeconomics, emphasizing the applications of mathematical tools and models to the study of individual economic decisions and their aggregate consequences. We begin with a parsimonious set of hypotheses about human behavior and the ways in which individual choices interact, and then examine the implications for markets. This entails treatments and applications of consumer theory and theory of the firm, under the ideal conditions implied by our hypotheses. Course grade will be determined by homework assignments (50%) and a final exam (50%).
3. Course Outline
Logic, Sets, and Topology Apr.5
Handout: JR Appendix1
Handout: JR Appendix2
Optimization Apr.11
Assignment: PQ1
Consumer Problem Apr.12
Handout: JR Chapter1
Consumer Demand Apr.18
Assignment: PS1
Handout: JR Chapter3
Duality Apr.19
Reading: Deaton and Muellbauer Chapter2
Reading: JR Chapter2
Preference, Choice, and Utility Apr.25
Supplementary note
Reading: Rubinstein Lecture3
Assignment: PQ2
Firm Problem Apr.26
Assignment: PS2
Handout: JR Chapter4
Partial Equilibrium May 9
Assignment: PQ3
Welfare and Allocation May 10
Handout: JR Chapter5
General Equilibrium May 16
Assignment: PS3
Expected Utility May 17
Reading: Ken Binmore, Rational Decision, 2009. Chapter3
Risk Aversion May 23
Production Economy May 24
Assignment: PQ4
Time and Uncertainty May 30
Final Exam (150 minutes) June 6
4. Assignments
Inside ( ) shows the due day for each assignment.
Practice Quiz
PQ1 (Apr.19): file
PQ2 (May 2): file
PQ3 (May 17): file
PQ4 (May 31): file
Problem Sets
PS1 (Apr.26): file
PS2 (May 10): file
PS3 (May 24): file
5. Textbooks
Advanced Microeconomics (I and II) does not use specific textbooks. Instead, I provide my own lecture slides, which are downloaded from above course outline. There are two textbooks which you may find useful to complement my lecture notes. You are encouraged to purchase the second ([NS]), since it will serve as the main textbook for Advanced Microeconomics III and IV. For the first one ([JR]), the copies of related chapters will be distributed in class.
[JR] Geoffrey Jehle and Philip Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd edition, 2011.
[NS] Walter Nicholson and Christopher Snyder, Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions, 11th edition, 2011.
An insightful advanced textbook on individual choice theory. It contains full of original ideas.
Ariel Rubinstein, Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, 2nd edition, 2012.
Old version is downloadable from author's page for free
A standard graduate level textbook with full of intuitive explanation is:
Hal Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, 3rd edition, 1992
Those of you look for more lucid treatment than the above textbooks may consult with the following authoritative sources. The former comprehensively incorporates game theoretical perspectives into microeconomics, and the latter is most widely used for microeconomics courses for economics Ph.D. students.
David Kreps, A Course in Microeconomic Theory, 1990
Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael Whinston and Jerry Green, Microeconomic Theory, 1995
A classic but still useful textbook for consumer theory and its applications is:
Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer, Economics and Consumer Behavior, 1980
A well-written and highly readable book for optimization techniques is:
Avinash Dixit, Optimization in Economic Theory, 2nd edition, 1990
A more advanced, yet readable book on optimization is:
Rangariajan Sundaram, A First Course in Optimization Theory, 1996
The followings are comprehensive and rigorous textbooks on mathematics for economics, both of which contain variety of economic applications.
Angel de la Fuente, Mathematical Methods and Models for Economists, 1999
Efe Ok, Real Analysis with Economic Applications, 2007
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