Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 lectures / week, 1.5 hours / lecture
Recitations: 1 recitation / week, 1.5 hours / recitation
Prerequisites
14.04: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Description
This course provides an introduction to microeconomic theory designed to meet the needs of students in the economics Ph.D program. Some parts of the course are designed to teach material that all graduate students should know. Other parts are used to introduce methodologies. Some topics of recent interest may also be covered.
Enrollment in this course is limited and permission of the instructor is required for students who are not in economics or Sloan Ph.D programs. Permission can be obtained by attending the first class and providing the instructor information about previous coursework in mathematics and economics, though strict priorities are set by the economics department and SHASS that I must enforce.
The course assumes that students have taken undergraduate intermediate microeconomics classes. It also assumes that students are comfortable with multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis. Historically, students from outside the economics department have had difficulty with the course. The enrollment limit may result in well-qualified students being turned away.
Textbooks
- Mas-Colell, Andreu, Michael Dennis Whinston, and Jerry R. Green. Microeconomic Theory. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780195073409.
- Kreps, David M. Microeconomic Foundations I: Choice and Competitive Markets. Vol. 1. Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780691155838. [Preview with Google Books]
Grading and Requirements
The course will be graded on the basis of a series of problem sets and a final exam. Problem sets will be due in class on assigned lecture dates. They will be graded on a check-, check, check+ basis. Problem set grades are intended primarily to give you an idea of how you are doing in the course and will affect course grades only for students with borderline scores on the exam. You may work in groups, but please do the write-ups individually. We do not expect to see identical answers from different students.