Cursos / 1º Ciclo / Faculty of Economy and Business Management :: Economics

MICROECONOMIA - 2017/2018

1º curricular year
Semestralidade: 1st semester
ECTS: 6

Teachers

Leading Teacher: Prof. Doutora Erika Laranjeira
Assistant Professor: Prof. Doutora Erika Laranjeira

Class type and School hours

Teaching Language

Portuguese

Main Aims/Objectives

Through this course we intend to study how societies use scarce resources to produce goods with value, and how the societies distribute them among the various economic actors.

Specific Aims/Objectives

In concrete terms, students are intended to understand some basic principles and economic instruments, and implementing them in solving economic problems, specifically in the resolution of individual economic decision problems of market players.

Skills to be acquired

It is expected that students acquire the ability to: understand the concept of opportunity cost; understand the concept of social welfare; understand the theory of demand and supply; understand the consequences of state intervention on the market equilibrium; understand the role played by the price mechanism; understand the theory of economic agents as consumers; and understand the theory of economic agents as producers.

Teaching Procedures

In theoretical classes the exposed material is always accompanied by an illustration showing real cases. The tutorial classes are designed to clarify questions and do some exercises about the issues taught in the theoretical classes.

Programme

1. Basic Economic Concepts
1.1. Choice and Scarcity
1.2. Total Utility and Marginal Utility
1.3. Opportunity Cost
1.4. Reserve Price
1.5. Average Benefit and Average Cost
1.6. Marginal Benefit and Marginal Cost
1.7. The Ten Principles of Economics

2. Supply and Demand
2.1. Market Concept
2.2. Demand
2.3. Supply
2.4. Market Equilibrium
2.5. Market Instability
2.6. Elasticities

3. Supply, Demand and Government
3.1. Price Control
3.1.1. Minimum and Maximum price limits
3.2. Taxes and Subsidies

4. Supply, Demand and Efficiency
4.1. Consumer Surplus
4.2. Producer Surplus
4.3. Market Equilibrium and Efficiency
4.4. Market Efficiency and Economic Policy
4.4.1. Market efficiency and price control
4.4.2. Market efficiency and taxes

5. Consumer Theory
5.1. Consumer Preferences
5.2. Budgetary restrictions
5.3. Consumer Optimal Choice
5.3.1. Optimal choice
5.3.2. Change in price
5.3.3. Change in income
5.3.4. Total price effect

Evaluation Type

Two tests.

Teaching Resources

Materials provided in classes.

Sustainability Objectives

Keywords

Scarcity
Choice
Demand
Supply
Equilibrium
Elasticity
Consumer
Producer
Production

Main Bibliography