Advanced Microeconomics I (2011)
Course number: ECO600E
Instructor: Yosuke YASUDA ([email protected]) TA: Ryoko SUSUKIDA ([email protected])
Term / Time / Room: Spring 1st / Wed 9:00 – 12:10 / Room 5F
Course web: https://sites.google.com/site/yosukeyasuda/Home/teaching/micro11_1
1. 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 combining grades on three homework assignments (45%) and a final exam (55%). Each problem set will be distributed in class. You are encouraged to form study groups, but must write up solutions independently.
2. Course Outline
1. Logic, sets, and mappings: [JR] Appendix1 2. Topology: [JR] Appendix1
TA: Review on Lectures 1 and 2 3. Preferences: [NS] Ch3; [JR] Ch1; [R] Ch1
4. Consumer preferences: [NS] Ch3; [JR] Ch1; [R] Ch2, Ch4 5. Demand: [NS] Ch3; [JR] Ch1, Ch2; [R] Ch3, Ch4, Ch5 6. Optimization 1: [NS] Ch2; [JR] Appendix2
TA: Optimization 2: [NS] Ch4; [JR] Appendix2 7. Consumer problem: [NS] Ch4; [JR] Ch1, Ch2; [R] Ch6 8. Duality: [NS] Ch.5; [JR] Ch2; [R] Ch6
9. Production and cost functions: [NS] Ch9, 10; [JR] Ch3; [R] Ch7 10. Profit maximization: [NS] Ch11; [JR] Ch3; [R] Ch7
11. Expected utility 1: [NS] Ch7; [JR] Ch2; [R] Ch8 12. Expected utility 2: [NS] Ch7; [JR] Ch2; [R] Ch9 13. Risk aversion: [NS] Ch7; [JR] Ch2; [R] Ch8 14. General equilibrium 1: [NS] Ch13; [JR] Ch5 15. General equilibrium 2: [NS] Ch13; [JR] Ch5 16. Final exam 120 minutes
4. Textbooks
Advanced Microeconomics I (and also II) does not use specific textbooks. Instead, I provide my own lecture notes, which is downloaded from my course website.
https://sites.google.com/site/yosukeyasuda/Home/teaching/micro11_1
There are three textbooks which you may find useful to complement my lecture notes. You are encouraged to purchase the first one ([NS]), since it will serve as the main textbook for Advanced Microeconomics III and IV.
[NS] Walter Nicholson and Christopher Snyder, Microeconomic Theory: basic principles and extensions, 10th, 2007
[JR] Geoffrey Jehle and Philip Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd, 2011 The copies of related chapters will be distributed in class.
[R] Ariel Rubinstein, Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory, 2006
You can download the latest version of the file from the author’s website for free:
http://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/Rubinstein2007.pdf
A standard graduate level textbook with full of intuitive explanation is: Hal Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, 3rd, 1992
Those of who look for more lucid treatment than the above textbooks may consult with the following authoritative sources. The former comprehensively incorporates game theoretical perspectives into microeconomics, and the latter is most widely used for microeconomics courses for economics Ph.D. students.
David Kreps, A Course in Microeconomic Theory, 1990
Andreu Mas‐Colell, Michael Whinston and Jerry Green, Microeconomic Theory, 1995
A classic but still useful textbook for consumer theory and its applications is: Angus Deaton and John Muellbauer, Economics and Consumer Behavior, 1980
A well‐written and highly readable book for optimization techniques is: Avinash Dixit, Optimization in Economic Theory, 2nd, 1990
A more advanced, yet readable textbook on optimization is:
Rangariajan Sundaram, A First Course in Optimization Theory, 1996
The followings are comprehensive and rigorous textbooks on mathematics for economics, both of which contain variety of economic applications:
Angel de la Fuente, Mathematical Methods and Models for Economics, 1999 Efe Ok, Real Analysis with Economic Applications, 2007
