The module will introduce students to a couple of tools of microeconomic theory that will help them think more rigorously like an economist. These tools will be used to analyse expenditure decisions of consumers, production decisions of firms and the functioning of markets.
We start by looking at the factors influencing demand and supply, and the way in which these interact through the price mechanism. We continue by considering the behaviour of, and constraints faced by, firms supplying these goods and the influence of market structure on this behaviour. Our purpose is not just to describe how the economy works but also to assess how well it works.
We will examine several interesting policy applications of these models. An important goal of this course is to emphasize the theoretical principles of microeconomics, and demonstrate how they can be applied to several different contexts in everyday life.
The covered topics are selected from Microeconomics syllabuses of Economics in UK higher education, therefore the module is foremost recommended for those wishing to study Economics as a major or minor subject.