Advanced Microeconomics I (2013-14)

Syllabus

Last up-dated: December 3, 2013

1. Important Announcement

• We have a (in-class) final exam on December 10 (Tue) at room 5J, 11:30 - 14:00. November18

• There will be a make-up class on November 11 (Mon), 15:00 - 16:30 at room 5J. November13

• Afternoon class on November 12 (Tue) will be cancelled. November13

• We have a (in-class) midterm exam on November 5 (Tue), 10:40 - 12:10 at room 5J. October 22

• There will be a make-up class on October 24 (Thu), 9:00 - 10:30 at room 5J. October 22

• There will be NO classes on October 29th. October 22

• There will be a make-up class on October 22 (Tue), 16:40 - 18:10 at room 5J. October 8

• There will be a make-up class on October 10 (Thu), 9:00 - 10:30 at room 5J. October 8

• There will be NO classes on October 15th. October 8

• We have the first lecture on October 8th (Tue), 10:40 - 12:10 at room 5J. October 7

2. Lecture Hours:

Instructor, Yosuke YASUDA

Tuesdays 10:40-12:10; 13:20-14:50 Room 5J

3. Office Hours:

Wednesdays 9:30-11:00 or by appointment (Room C911)

There is NO TA in this lecture.

4. Course Description

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 a midterm exam (40%) and a final exam (60%). Problem sets will be distributed, but not be graded.

5. Course Outline

1. Basic Mathematics Oct 8

   • Reading: Neilson Chapter2

   • Reference: NS Chapter1

   • Reference: Varian, Chapter26

2. Logic, Sets, and Topology Oct 8

   • Reading: JR Appendix1

   • Reading: JR Appendix2

3. Optimization Oct 10

   • Exercise 1

   • Reading: JR Chapter1

   • Reference: NS Chapter2

   • Reference: Varian, Chapter27

4. Consumer Problem Oct 22

   • Problem Set 1

   • Reading: JR Chapter3

   • Reading: NS Chapter2 Extensions

5. Consumer Demand Oct 22

   • Reading: NS Chapter4

6. Duality Oct 24

   • Exercise 2

   • Reading: Deaton and Muellbauer Chapter2

   • Reading: NS Chapter5

   • Reference: JR Chapter2

• 1. Midterm Exam (90 minutes) Nov 5

7. Preference, Choice, and Utility Nov 5

   • Supplementary note: file

   • Reference: Rubinstein Lecture3

8. Firm Problem Nov 12

   • Reading: JR Chapter4

9. Partial Equilibrium Nov 12

10. Welfare and Allocation Nov 18

    • Problem Set 2

    • Reading: JR Chapter5

    • Reference: Varian Chapter10

11. General Equilibrium Nov 19

    • Exercise 3

12. Production Economy Nov 26

    • Reading: Laffont Introduction

13. Time and Uncertainty Nov 26

    • Problem Set 3

    • Reading: Laffont Chapter5

    • Reading: Riley Chapter8

    • Reference: Laffont Chapter6-8

14. Final Exam (150 minutes) Dec 10

6. Assignments

• Exercise and Problem Sets (uploaded day)

  • • Exercise 1 (October 17) : Q

    • Problem Set 1 (October 17) : Q, A

    • Exercise 2 (October 24) : Q

    • Problem Set 2 (November 18) : Q, A

    • Exercise 3 (November 19) : Q

    • Problem Set 3: Q, A

7. 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.

Downloadable from author's page for free! Old version is here.

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 is most widely used for microeconomics courses for economics Ph.D. students. The latter is more accessible and contains recently developed topics.

Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael Whinston and Jerry Green, Microeconomic Theory, 1995

John Riley, Essential Microeconomics, 2012

There are classic but still remarkably useful textbooks. The former covers consumer theory and the latter is for mathematical economics:

Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer, Economics and Consumer Behavior, 1980

Eugene Silverberg and Wing Suen, The Structure of Economics: A Mathematical Analysis, 3rd, 2000

An easy-to-understand book for basic mathematical tools in economics is:

William Neilson, Must-have Math Tools for Economics, 2009 version

Downloadable from author's page for free!

A well-written and highly readable book for optimization techniques is:

Avinash Dixit, Optimization in Economic Theory, 2nd edition, 1990

A classic and rigorous textbook for economics of uncertainty is:

Jean-Jacques Laffont, The Economics of Uncertainty and Information, 1991

A more advanced, yet readable book on optimization is:

Rangariajan Sundaram, A First Course in Optimization Theory, 1996

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