ECON 302Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis

3 credits · Economics · Penn State

ECON 302 , Intermediate Microeconomics (3 credits) (GS) (BA). This course teaches microeconomic theory at an intermediate undergraduate level, taking a more mathematical approach. Major components of the course are constrained maximization, the theory of the consumer, the theory of the producer, general equilibrium, market structures, and game theory. The goal of this course is to give the student the fundamentals of microeconomics that will be applied widely to upper level courses in economics. The course begins by developing a model of consumer behavior. This model is extended to derive a consumer's demand for a good, and then numerous applications of this model are investigated, including income and substitution effects of a price change, as well as the determination of relative prices in a general equilibrium framework. The supply side of the market is then discussed. The theory of the firm is developed, and students will explore firm behavior and welfare analysis in various market settings including perfectly competitive markets, monopoly, and oligopoly with strategic interaction between firms. Economics is an analytical subject. Students will learn to use inductive reasoning and other scientific methodology necessary to understand this and other (social) sciences. In short, students will learn to think like an economist. The goal of this course is to extend student understanding of the topics introduced in the principles-level class to the way they are applied in the upper level courses in economics.