Prelims Microeconomics: Michaelmas 2020
Prelims Microeconomics: Michaelmas 2020
Please use this Gogle Doc to sign up for office hours.
Tutorials
Scheduling: We meet in Weeks 2-8, usually on Thursday or Friday afternoon. Please find here a document with group assignment and the time and location of tutorials for each group.
Problem sets: I will assign a subset of the problems from the tutorial worksheets posted on the course page. These must be submitted to me, via email, by 5pm on the Monday before the tutorial. I will provide short feedback to the problems that have been assigned; in the classes I will give priority to going through the solutions to those questions that have been assigned.
Readings: The Introduction to Microeconomics course loosely follow the syllabus of the CORE textbook, "The Economy", which is available for free online. Print copies are also available from Oxford University Press and at various libraries around the university.
I recommend also using one of the following (second hand copies of early editions are generally fine and considerably cheaper):
Frank, R. (or Frank, R. and R. Cartwright) Microeconomics and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill
Varian, H. R., Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, Norton
Perloff, J., Microeconomics-Theory and Applications with Calculus, Pearson
Morgan, W., Katz, M. L. and Rosen, H. S., Microeconomics, McGraw-Hill
For the mathematical elements, the Maths Workbook prepared by Prof. Margaret Stevens is invaluable. Printed copies are available from the SSL for a nominal fee. There are also a number of "maths for economics" textbooks on the market. Three such are:
Chiang, A. C., Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, McGraw-Hill
Anthony, M., and N. Biggs, Mathematics for Economics and Finance: Methods and Modelling, Cambridge
Simon C., and L. Blume, Mathematics for Economists, Norton
Format: The tutorials will focus mostly on covering the solutions to the problem sets. However, I am also happy to discuss any questions you may have about the lecture material. If you could email me any questions that arise in advance of the tutorial, that would be really helpful for me to have time to think about your question.
You can find the tutorial sequence for this course below, and also here.
Tutorial 1 (Week 2)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 1, Problems 1, 2, 3 and 4 for submission by 5pm on Monday, October 19, 2020.
Please also prepare, but do not submit, short notes on Questions 1 and 7: we will discuss these in class if time permits.
Tutorial 2 (Week 3)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 2, Problems 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 for submission by 5pm on Monday, October 26, 2020.
Please also prepare, but do not submit, short notes on Question 3: we will discuss this in class if time permits.
Tutorial 3 (Week 4)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 3, Problems 1, 3, 4 and 5 for submission by 5pm on Monday, November 2, 2020.
Please also prepare, but do not submit, short notes on Question 1: we will discuss this in class if time permits.
Tutorial 4 (Week 5)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 4, Problems 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 for submission by 5pm on Monday, November 9, 2020.
Please also write an essay on Question 4, for submission by Friday, November 20, 2020 (5pm): 'Using the framework provided by the Slutsky equation, explain how a worker will vary the number of hours she works in response to a rise in the wage rate, decomposing the change into income and substitution effects. Critically evaluate your answer.' Your essay should be approximately 800-1000 words in length. Please type your essay and use 1.5 spacing. You can use figures and graphs in your essay. Any accompanying figures may be drawn by hand, labelled (e.g. 'Figure 1', Figure 2', etc.) and referred to in the text.
Tutorial 5 (Week 6)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 5, Problems 2, 4, 5 and 6 for submission by 5pm on Monday, November 16, 2020.
Tutorial 6 (Week 7) - PROBABILITY & STATISTICS TUTORIAL
In-class, closed-book quiz. You do not have to hand in any material in advance of the tutorial.
Tutorial 7 (Week 8)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 6, problems 1, 2, 3 for submission by 5pm Monday, November 30, 2020.
Please also write an essay plan on Question 4, for submission by Friday, December 4, 2020 (5pm): 'Why does the monopoly equilibrium give rise to a deadweight loss?'
Tutorial 8 (Hilary Term, Week 1)
Problems: Tutorial sheet 7, problems 2, 3 for submission by 1pm Wednesday, December 16, 2020.
Please also write an essay on Question 6, for submission by 1pm on Wednesday, January 6, 2020: '“Since markets allocate resources to those who value them most, there is no need for governments to intervene”. Discuss.' Your essay should be approximately 800-1000 words in length. Please type your essay and use 1.5 spacing. You can use figures and graphs in your essay. Any accompanying figures may be drawn by hand, labelled (e.g. 'Figure 1', Figure 2', etc.) and referred to in the text.