6 ECTS credits
160 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 2023736ANR for all students in the 1st semester
at
a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
- Semester
- 1st semester
- Enrollment based on exam contract
- Impossible
- Grading method
- Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
- Can retake in second session
- Yes
- Taught in
- Dutch
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
- Department
- Applied economics
- Educational team
- Bruno Heyndels
(course titular)
Alan Al Yussef
- Activities and contact hours
- 24 contact hours Lecture
24 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
112 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
- Course Content
The conflict between (indefinite) wants and scarce resources at our disposal is the starting point of economic analysis.
The micro-economic way of thinking is introduced to the students through the analysis and illustration of basic concepts and their functioning. The interaction between demand and supply as well as the resulting working of the market are introduced. Specific attention is given to the role of both the demand side (consumers) and the supply side (producers). Different market structures are discussed and analyzed (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, perfect competition). Market failures as well as the function of government are discussed.
Subjects included: markets (demand & supply); elasticity; consumer behaviour, perfect competition; market inefficiencies; monopoly; oligopoly; monopolistic competition; public goods; merit goods; external effects; assymetric information; behavioural economics; gains from trade
Main concepts are introduced in lectures, WPO's focus on application of these concepts.
- Course material
- Handbook (Recommended) : Economics, Mankiw, Gregory N. & Mark P. Taylor, 5th edition, Cengage Learning, 9781473786981, 2020
- Additional info
The textbook is available in the Standaard Student Shop.
- Learning Outcomes
-
General Competences
Students learn the economic way of thinking and basic micro-economic concepts. They can apply these concepts in realistic settings.
More precisely:
The student (each time: intuitively, grafically and analytically):
- Understands the underlying mechanisms of demand & supply and their impact on equilibrium price and quantities in the market.
- Knows and understands the determinants of price elasticity of demand & supply. He/she can calculate price elasticity (arc and point elasticity) and understands how it is applied, notably in firm and government decisions.
- Is able to analyze and understand consumers’ optimizing behaviour. He/she understands the methodological and formal building blocks.
- Is able to analyze and understand producers’ behaviour in different competitive as well as other market forms (under different objective functions).
- Understands the micro-economic idea of ‘constrained optimization’.
- Knows the origin of main market inefficiencies and he/she can explain how public intervention (or other mechanisms) can provide an answer.
- Understands the concepts of asymmetric information, knows the main models from the academic literature and recognizes problems of asymmetric information in firm contexts.
- Recognizes the limitations of the neo-classical approach and has insight into the main contributions from behavioural economics. The student can document the economic relevance for firms.
- Grading
-
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
- Written Exam
with a relative weight of 100
which comprises 100% of the final mark.
Note: Open and/or multiple choice questions. The multiple-choice exam will be graded by positive scoring using a higher pass mark (standard setting). The number of answer options on the multiple-choice questions is 4 (1 of which is correct). A student achieves 10/20 on the multiple-choice exam when 62.5% of the multiple-choice questions are answered correctly. If the number of possible answers differs from 4, the pass park is adjusted accordingly.
- Additional info regarding evaluation
Not applicable.
- Allowed unsatisfactory mark
- The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.
Academic context
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Political Science and Sociology: - afstudeerrichting politieke wetenschappen, minor bedrijfseconomie (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Track 1 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Track 2 (only offered in Dutch)