Syllabus
Last Update: December 24, 2014
1. Important Announcement
[2014/11/4] --- There will be a midterm exam on December 1, 10:00 - 13:00 (3 hours). The lecture room will be announced later. New!
[2014/10/25] --- Past exams are uploaded.
[2014/10/21] --- The in-class midterm exam will be on November 4, 10:40 - 12:10.
[2014/10/21] --- There will be a fire drill on November 11, 14:00 - 15:00.
[2014/10/21] --- Solutions for Problem Set 1 is uploaded.
[2014/10/14] --- Problem Set 1 is uploaded.
[2014/7/22] --- We have the first lecture on October 7th (Tue), 10:40 - 12:10 at room 5J.
2. Lecture Hours:
Instructor, Yosuke YASUDA (yosuke.yasuda<at>gmail.com)
Tuesdays 10:40-12:10; 13:20-14:50 Room 5J
3. Office Hours:
Tuesdays 15:00-16:00 or by appointment (Room C911)
TA: Yoko OISHI by appointment (phd11108<at>grips.ac.jp).
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 (33%) and a final exam (67%). Problem sets will be distributed, but not be graded.
5. Course Outline
Basic Mathematics Oct 7
Reading: Neilson Chapters 1-3
You can download a file from the author's website.
Reference: NS Chapter1
Reference: Varian, Chapter26
Logic, Sets, and Topology Oct 7
Exercise 1
Reading: JR Appendix1
Reading: JR Appendix2
Optimization Oct 14
Reading: JR Chapter1
Reference: NS Chapter2
Reference: Varian, Chapter27
Consumer Problem Oct 14
Problem Set 1
Reading: JR Chapter3
Reading: NS Chapter2 Extensions
Consumer Demand Oct 21
Reading: NS Chapter4
Duality Oct 21
Problem Set 1: Solution
Exercise 2
Reading: Deaton and Muellbauer Chapter2
Reading: NS Chapter5
Reference: JR Chapter2
Preference, Choice, and Utility Oct 28
Supplementary note: file
Reference: Rubinstein Lecture3
Firm Problem Oct 28
Reading: JR Chapter4
Midterm Exam (90 minutes) Nov 4
It covers the materials from Lectures 1 - 6. (Lectures 7 and 8 are NOT covered!)
Partial Equilibrium Nov 4
Problem Set 2
Welfare and Allocation Nov 11
Reading: JR Chapter5
Reference: Varian Chapter10
General Equilibrium Nov 11
Problem Set 2: Solution
Reading: Koopmans Chapter 1
Exercise 3
Production Economy Nov 18
Reading: Laffont Introduction
Time and Uncertainty Nov 18
Problem Set 3
Problem Set 3: Solution
Reading: Laffont Chapter5
Reading: Riley Chapter8
Reference: Laffont Chapter6-8
Final Exam (180 minutes) Dec 1 (10:00 - 13:00)
Review of Final Exam Dec 16
6. Assignments
Exercise and Problem Sets
Exercise 1 : Q
Problem Set 1 : Q
Exercise 2 : Q
Problem Set 2 : Q
Exercise 3 : Q
Problem Set 3: Q
7. Past Exams
You can download the past exams below.
2013-14: Midterm; Final
2013: Final
2012: Final
2011: Final
2010: Midterm; Final
2009: Final
2008: Final
8. 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
The following books are even older classics (masterpieces) on general equilibrium theory:
Tjalling Koopmans, Three Essays on the State of Economic Science, 1957
Gerard Debreu, Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium, 1959
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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