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CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

ECON 201 INTRODUCTION TO MICROECONOMICS
COURSE OUTLINE
Fall/Winter 2013-14

Instructor: Office:
E-mail: Office hours:
Schedule: Location:

Course objectives:
This course provides an understanding of the basic principles of microeconomics and their use in
analyzing contemporary economic issues. It begins with an introduction to the methodology of
economics and continues with an analysis of demand and supply. Interactions among markets, elasticity
and consumer behaviour are also discussed. A theory of the firm is presented, together with
considerations regarding the influence of market structure on firm behaviour. Market failures,
government intervention and the general theory of welfare economics are considered. We also analyse
the role of financial markets as a source of funds for firms, and as a link between households and firms.

Textbook and Electronic Evaluation Program:
These are provided by the Lyryx Service Course Solution (LSCS), including:

E-Text: Douglas Curtis and Ian Irvine, Microeconomics: Markets, Methods & Models, 2013.
The e-Text has an open license and can be downloaded on the Lyryx site, printed, and freely distributed
for non-commercial use.

Online Homework: You will need to register yourself on the Lyryx website at http://lyryx.com to
complete your assignments. (see Lyryx Labs Instructions file)

Evaluation:
- Online Lyryx Labs: 20% (Complete10-13 weekly labs.)
- Midterm Exam: 20% (In class)
- Final Exam: 60% (To be scheduled by the Examinations Office.)

Students who miss the midterm exam for valid reasons (such as physician-documented illness) must
contact their instructors immediately.

The final exam is cumulative and will cover the whole course. The final exam will be common to all
201 sections. It will consist of multiple choice, algebraic and graphical questions. The midterm exam
will be a mini version of the final exam. Past midterm and final exams will be posted on Moodle.

The Department of Economics does not offer supplemental exam privileges.

In-Class Tutorials:
Students are also registered for weekly tutorials and should attend the tutorial section and lecture they
are registered for. The tutorial sessions will begin in the third week of classes. The Tutorial Leaders
(TLs), who are graduate economics students, will work through various practice questions. These
practice questions are quite similar to past midterm and final exam questions. These questions will be
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posted on the instructors website in advance and students should bring a copy to the tutorials. Ideally,
students should try to answer these questions prior to attending the tutorials. The TLs will derive the
answers to these questions, and they will review the topics requested by the majority of the students.
Answers to the practice questions are only available from the tutorials. The answers will NOT be
posted on the website. Therefore, students who wish to obtain the answers to the questions should
attend the tutorials regularly.

The tutorial schedule (days, times, locations) can be accessed online at:
http://fcms.concordia.ca/fcms/asc002_stud_all.aspx

Study Group Sessions:
Student Learning Services is organizing Study Group sessions for ECON 201 and 203, open to any
student taking one of these courses. Students attending the groups will be able to review course content,
work on sample problems together and review prerequisite material needed to succeed in ECON. Study
Groups are facilitated by students who have done well in the course. Study Group Session schedules
will be available on Moodle.

Reading List:
Please note that the schedule is tentative. Due to statutory holidays and potential active class
participation, some chapters may not be covered in their entirety while some material not in the text
(such as current events) may be discussed and tested in exams. As a result, students should attend
classes regularly. Also, to facilitate understanding, students are encouraged to read chapters ahead of
time.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Key Ideas
Chapter 2: Theories, Models and Data
Chapter 3: The Classical Marketplace demand and supply
Chapter 4: Elasticities of Demand and Supply
Chapter 5: Welfare Economics, Externalities and Non-Classical Markets
Chapter 6: Individual choice, 6.1-6.3 only.
Chapter 7: Firms, Investors and Capital markets
Chapter 8: Production and Cost
Chapter 9: Perfect Competition
Chapter 10: Monopoly
Chapter 11: Imperfect Competition
Chapter 15: International Trade

Academic Honesty: It is the responsibility of students to be aware of the rules and regulations
governing assignments and exams that come under the category of behaviour called cheating. The
code of conduct is available in the University Calendar, which is accessible through the Concordia
home page.

Disclaimer
While it is unlikely that significant changes to the course outline will materialize, students are required
to keep up with the materials posted on the Moodle course website, where any changes will be posted.
Students are advised that the Economics Department does not support and cannot guarantee the quality
of any private tutoring service offered by outside institutions. Students are encouraged to use caution
and should be aware that they enrol in such services at their own risk.

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