ECO 2306 Principles of Economics II (Microeconomics)
Basic Information:
Instructor Name Dr. Kalpana Pai
Home Institution Texas Wesleyan University
Instructor Title Associate Professor
E- Mail kpai@txwes.edu
Home Office Phone Number 817-531-4844
Office TBA
Office Hours TBA, and by appointment
Course Description: An introduction to microeconomic analysis. The study of the behavior of the individual
economic agents in our society, including price theory, analysis of the firm and of resource markets, involving market
structures from competitive to monopolistic.
Overview: Economics is the study of how people behave in the economy. There are two specific fields in economics:
macroeconomics and microeconomics. Macroeconomics studies the decisions made in the national economy and how
the economy functions in the aggregate. Microeconomics examines the choices of individuals and firms make for
consuming and producing goods and services. This course is a study of modern microeconomics. If human wants are
unlimited and resources used to produce goods and servi ces are limited, then choices must be made.
Microeconomics is the study of the consequences of the decisions made by each economic actor. These economic
actors such as firms, families and individuals must decide what and how much to produce, and who will consume
and pay for the goods and services produced. We will study theories that attempt to explain the decision-making
processes underlying these choices.
Required Course Materials:
Textbook Edition Author Publisher ISBN-10
The Micro Economy Today 13th Edition Bradley, Schiller; Cynthia
Hill; Sherri Wall
McGraw-Hill Higher
Education
E-text 0077416619
Print 0077416538
Link to e-book purchase address:
http://www.coursesmart.com/IR/1216011/0077416619?__hdv=6.8
Course Hours: The course has 19 class sessions in total. Each class session is 130 minutes in length. The course meets
from Monday to Thursday. Each course has a total of 40 class hours (4 credit hours). The last Thursday (July 31, 2014)
is a reading day for students. Final exams are scheduled on Aug 1 and 2, 2014
Prerequisite: There is no economics prerequisite for this class. While a strong mathematical background is not
assumed, we will make extensive use of algebra and graphs throughout the course.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Analyze how equilibrium price and quantity are determined in a market.
2. Compute the price elasticity of demand, cross elasticity of demand, and income elasticity of demand.
3. Compute marginal product; average product; marginal cost; and average fixed, average variable and average
total cost, and interpret each curve.
4. Distinguish between long run and short-run costs.
5. Compare and contrast pricing and output behavior of firms in perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic
competition, and oligopoly.
6. Explain how wages are set in the competitive labor market.
