Economics 4001.01. Intermediate Microeconomics Instructor: Karen F Bernhardt-Walther Email: bernhardt-walther.2@osu.edu A. Administrative Information Reading Materials Required: Price Theory and Applications, 8th Edition, By Steven Landsburg, ISBN-13: 9780538746458 The international edition should work fine. Be aware though, that some of the page numbers may not align between the US and the international edition. Microeconomics (SparkCharts), ISBN-13: 978-1586636326 Recommended: Microeconomics Demystified, Craig A. Depken. This is a good text to practice brush up on your background economics knowledge and to practice class material. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science (Fully Revised and Updated) by Charles Wheelan. This is a no-math paperback addressed to an interested lay-person. It is easy reading and links a lot of the material we cover in class to policies, politics, and current issues. Website The web site for the course is www.carmen.osu.edu. Many of the course materials will be posted at that site. Peer Tutoring at the Economics Learning Center (ECL) The Department of Economics runs the Economics Learning Center, where advanced undergraduates provide free tutoring for students in Economics 2001, 2002, 4001, and 4002. Assistance with other classes is frequently available. The Economics Learning Center is located in 311 Arps Hall (1945 North High Street) and is typically open from 9AM-5PM Monday-Friday starting the second (full) week of the quarter. Note that the purpose of the tutoring center is not to provide answers to assignments, but to help students learn economics. As the student, you are ultimately responsible for all course work you submit. http://web.econ.ohio-state.edu/undergraduate/elc.htm. 1
B. Course Overview The goal of this course is for you to be able to make an economic argument using concepts and tools of microeconomics. You will have plenty of opportunities to practice forming economic arguments in your homework, in group and in class-discussions. Key to all topics covered in class are prices as determinants of behavior as well as as aggregate information. Thematically, we will discuss demand and supply, welfare analysis, behavior of consumers, the behavior of firms, competitive and non-competitive industries, and market failures. This course does not assume any knowledge of calculus. If you have previously taken calculus classes, you may want to consider taking 4001.02 instead. However, I do assume that you can solve simple systems of equations, understand inequalities, and can graph functions. I assume a firm grasp of the principles of microeconomics, as covered in Econ 2001, or equivalent. Please see me if you have any questions about the prerequisites or if you find yourself struggling with the first problem set. C. Class Expectations It is my aim to create a positive classroom environment that will facilitate your learning. You are always welcome to talk to me or email me with questions or concerns about the course. If you don t understand a subject matter, I encourage you to ask questions either in class, or afterwards. Remember, I am here to assist you in mastering the subject material. It is also important for you to realize, that what you are able to take out of the class and in-class discussions heavily depends how prepared you come to class. You should plan to work to understand the class material between any two class periods. In my experience, few students manage to catch up once they fall behind the material. D. Course Requirements and Grading Four fundamental skills are required to successfully make an economic argument - Economic analysis. The goal of this class is to take your mastering of these tools to the next level. - Basic math, quantitative and analytical skills. It is beyond the scope of this class to teach you these. Nonetheless, some basic knowledge of percentages, fractions, lines and slopes, reading and plotting graphs, making a logic argument, solving and evaluating algebraic expressions is required to be successful in this class. There is a required math quiz (on Carmen) that asks you to demonstrate these basic skills. - Basic communication skills. I assume that you have mastered these. I expect you to present your arguments, in particular in your homework, in complete sentences that are coherent and for the most part grammatically correct. - Team work. Economic analysis is often complex and multilayered. You are more likely to succeed in this class and elsewhere in economics if you work in a team. Every student will be part of a formal study groups. Assignments to groups will be done based on a survey in the first class. Homework assignments have to be submitted as a group. Over the course of the term, a total of 1000 points will be assigned. The weighting of problem sets, exams, and so forth is already built into the number of points that is being assigned for each component. For example, each problem set is worth up to 60 points which is equivalent to 6% of 1000 points. This way, one point received on 2
the homework is worth the same as one point received on the exam, and you just need to add all points received throughout the course to obtain your total score. Your final grade for the class will be computed as follows Grading Schedule Maximum Points Math Quiz 5% 50 Available on Carmen. You have three attempts and you must answer 80% correctly to get a score. If you answer 80% correctly on the first, second, third attempt, you receive 50, 40, and 30 points respectively. The last day to take the math quiz for the first, second, and third time is at the end of the second, third, and fourth week of the term, respectively. Group Work Protocols 5% 50 You are required to meet with your group about once per week. Every time you meet, you upload a one-page protocol to your group s Carmen drop-box (more information will be available on Carmen). Problems Sets 30% 300 6 problem sets, worth 60 points each, worst score gets dropped Midterms 20% 200 2 exams, worth 200 points each, worst score gets dropped Final Exam 40% 400 accumulative with emphasis on last third of the course I expect the average on the exams to be around 150 out of 300 points, and the overall average to be between 550 and 650 points. Grading and grading scheme reflect the difficulty of this class as well as its intermediate level. But the grade distribution will be very similar to that in other classes. For example, last term 15% of students got an A, the average of the class was a B-. Final grades will be assigned as follows Grade Total score requirement Percent Equivalent A 850 or more out of 1000 points. 85% or more on all assignments. B 700 or more out of 1000 points. 70% or more on all assignments. C 550 or more out of 1000 points. 55% or more on all assignments. These scores reflect the maximum cut-offs. This means, for example, that anyone with 700 or more points will definitely get some B-grade (B-, B, B+) or better. However, fepending on what the final distribution of scores looks like, I may change the cut-off downward. For example, it may be appropriate to start a B- at 680 points. Group Work In this class, you will be part of a formal study group of four or five students. In most weeks, there will be a lecture with all students, a class discussion with half the class, and you will meet at least once for 55 minutes with your study group. We will spend some time in the beginning of the term to form study groups and get to know each other. Your study group will be one of your most useful resource to succeed in this class. 3
Remember that you are not learning economics you are learning to do economics. The more you practice economic analysis the better you will become. On occasion you may find that you and your study group partners have found different answers to the same question, but that both you and they are equally sure of your answers. In attempting to convince each other, and in trying to pinpoint the spot at which your thinking diverged, you will be forced to clarify your ideas and you will discover which concepts you need to study further. You must hand in your homework as part of your study group. A Word on Written Work Quality Your work must be legible without strain on my eyes, the use of a magnifying class, or a decryption machine. You will not receive credit for any work that I cannot read on first sight. Always write clearly, draw graphs and diagrams large, and label the axes clearly and legible. You will be graded on what I can read, not on what you can read and not on what you meant. Moreover, please always show your work and present a complete argument. In your homework, in particular, do not just tell me what the answer is, convince me. I must be able to read your answer/argument and explain to another person how you derived that answer. Correct answers without showing work and without supporting argument will not get full credit! Math Quiz Even though this course will not use the tools of calculus, some basic math skills including percentages, fractions, lines and slopes, reading and plotting graphs, making a logic argument, solving and evaluating algebraic expressions are required to be successful in this class. To help you to evaluate whether your mathematical skills are good enough for you to perform successfully in the course, you are required to take a math quiz covering those topics on Carmen. You must answer 80% correctly to get a score and you have three attempts to do so. If you answer 80% correctly on the first, second, third attempt, you receive 50, 40, and 30 points respectively. You may want to review material from past math classes covering the topics listed above before taking the quiz. If you fail to answer 80% of the questions correctly in the first attempt, you may want to practice some more before taking the second quiz. The quizzes become available at the beginning of the first, second, and third week of the term, respectively. The last day to take the math quiz for the first, second, and third time is at the end of the third, fourth, and fifth week of the term, respectively. Review Quiz On Monday in the second week, we will have a review quiz that covers the basic principles you are familiar with from Econ 2001 or equivalent. I know that for some of you it has been a while since you took the Principles class. So this quiz provides you with an incentive to review the material you learned. It also gives me a better sense which topics you are more familiar with and which topics we need to spend on more time this term. Points you get from this quiz are extra-credit. If you answer 80% or more correctly, you will get 50 points. If you answer 60% or more correctly, you will get 25 points. 4
Problem Sets Problems sets will be posted on Carmen and are due as indicated on the syllabus. Problems sets are due at the beginning of class. They can also be emailed to me no later than 30 minutes prior to the start of the class. Problem sets mostly contain review and practice questions. Each problem set also contains an exploratory question that takes a bit more time to answer, that extends the material covered, and that on occasion is best answered using Excel. If you are time constrained or a good exam-taker, feel free to ignore that question in agreement with your study group. However, if you are interested in the topic, in taking economics classes beyond this class, or want to make sure you are getting full homework credit please explore. Problem sets do take time. They invite you to ponder, to think, and to debate first with yourself and then with your study group. You have about two weeks to complete each problem set. Start early! You must hand in problem sets with your study group. All students handing in a problem set as a group are responsible for the entire problem set and will receive the same score. If there is disagreement within your group about the solution to a question, feel free to note the disagreement, present both solutions, as well as the argument for each solution. You are not allowed to have your name on a group problem set to the solution of which you have not contributed. All problem sets are extremely exam relevant, and I strongly urge you to not ignore the questions that are not your responsibility in your group. Written Exams There will be two in class midterms, and a 100-min final exam. The midterms will each focus on the material that has not been previously tested, but you are expected to be familiar with the previous material. In particular, I may ask questions that relate new and old material. The final will be accumulative with an emphasis on the last third of the course. You are responsible for all material covered in class, in the book, and in assignments. The exam may contain True/False questions, numerical questions, and short essay problems. No notes or calculators are permitted during the exam. No electronic devices (ebooks, laptops, etc.) may be used. All cell phones must be turned off. Do not plan on using your cell phone as a clock. If you would like to get your exam back, you must write in ink. Exams written in pencil will not be returned. You may use your copy of the Microeconomics Spark Charts (no annotations) as a cheat-sheet in all exams. Make Up Policy No make-up exams will be provided for the written exams. Students missing a written exam for unavoidable and formally verifiable will not have that exam weighted in their final grade. Students missing more than one exam for unavoidable and formally verifiable reasons will be given a make-up exam. Exams missed for any other reasons will be assigned a score of zero. Students must plan their end of quarter travel arrangements accordingly. E. Academic Misconduct Academic integrity is essential to maintaining an environment that fosters excellence in teaching, research, and other educational and scholarly activities. Thus, The Ohio State University and the Committee on Academic 5
Misconduct (COAM) expect that all students have read and understand the University s Code of Student Conduct, and that all students will complete all academic and scholarly assignments with fairness and honesty. Students must recognize that failure to follow the rules and guidelines established in the University s Code of Student Conduct and this syllabus may constitute Academic Misconduct. The Ohio State University s Code of Student Conduct (Section 3335-23-04) defines academic misconduct as: Any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the University, or subvert the educational process. Examples of academic misconduct include (but are not limited to) plagiarism, collusion (unauthorized collaboration), copying the work of another student, and possession of unauthorized materials during an examination. Ignorance of the University s Code of Student Conduct is never considered an excuse for academic misconduct, so I recommend that you review the Code of Student Conduct and, specifically, the sections dealing with academic misconduct. If I suspect that a student has committed academic misconduct in this course, I am obligated by University Rules to report my suspicions to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. If COAM determines that you have violated the University s Code of Student Conduct (i.e., committed academic misconduct), the sanctions for the misconduct could include a failing grade in this course and suspension or dismissal from the University. If you have any questions about the above policy or what constitutes academic misconduct in this course, please contact me. F. Students with Disability Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office of Disabilities Services will be appropriately accommodated. If this applies to you, then please inform me as soon as possible about your needs. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901; http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/. 6
G. Tentative Course Schedule Note: I reserve the right to change this syllabus in order to meet the needs of this class. Week Day Notes Topic Reading 1 M 7-Jan Lecture 1 Demand and Supply "To the student" (preface), p. 1-24 W 9-Jan Group W & F What's in a price? p. 31-34 F 11-Jan meet in groups, prepare for quiz 2 M 14-Jan Review Quiz W 16-Jan Lecture 2 Welfare Analysis and Efficiency p. 223-241 F 18-Jan meet in groups 3 M 21-Jan no class - MLK W 23-Jan Lecture 3 Budget and Indifference Curves p. 45-69 PS 1 due F 25-Jan Group W & F Changes in Budget Curves 4 M 28-Jan Lecture 4 Demand and Engel Curves, Elasticity p. 81-89, p. 100-105 W 30-Jan Group W F 1-Feb Group F Changes in Budget Curves 5 M 4-Feb Lecture 5 Income and Substitution Effect p.90-99 PS 2 due W 6-Feb Group W F 8-Feb Group F Prepare for Midterm 1 6 M 11-Feb Midterm 1 W 13-Feb Group W F 15-Feb Group F Review firm and cost of firms 7 M 18-Feb Lecture 6 Behavior of the firm p. 115-131 W 20-Feb Group W F 22-Feb Group F 8 M 25-Feb Lecture 7 Competitive Industry - Short Run p. 171-185 PS 3 due W 27-Feb Group W F 1-Mar Group F 9 M 4-Mar Lecture 8 Competitive Industry - Long Run p. 186-199, p. 211-212 W 6-Mar Group W F 8-Mar Group F 11-Mar Spring break 10 M 18-Mar Lecture 9 Monopoly p. 317-333 PS 4 due W 20-Mar Group W F 22-Mar Group F 11 M 25-Mar Midterm 2 W 27-Mar Lecture 10 Price Discrimination p. 333-349 F 29-Mar Group F 12 M 1-Apr Group W W 3-Apr Lecture 11 Market Power and Collusion p. 357-377 PS 5 due F 5-Apr Group F 13 M 8-Apr Group W W 10-Apr Lecture 12 Asymmetric Information p. 297-308 7
F 12-Apr Group F 14 M 15-Apr Group W W 17-Apr Lecture 13 Externalities p. 417-443 PS 6 due F 19-Apr Group F 15 M 22-Apr Group W 8