Announcements Happy holidays!
Now posted: solutions to Final Exam. Top score: 96 ! Median = 68.
Check out the e-commons link here. It should take you to the UCSD Intermediate Micro Video Handbook (IMVH). If that doesn’t work, follow these instructions.
You are expected to read the business press regularly, for this class as well as for 233. Possible sources include the NY Times, Wall St Journal, Economist (weekly), Bloomberg News. You can get a student rate to most of these, e.g., for the NYT, try here.
Microeconomic Analysis
An MS-level course in microeconomic theory and applications, this class assumes competence in mathematics at the level of Econ 186, and competence in intermediate microeconomics at the level of Econ 100A. The emphasis is on using microeconomic tools to solve practical problems. Assigned problems are neither data- nor computation-intensive this quarter since you have not yet completed graduate level econometrics, but they are idea-intensive and suggestive.
The primary text is Microeconomic Analysis, Third Edition by Hal Varian (Norton, 1992). Additional readings are on reserve in the Science Library and/or posted below. Grades are based on class participation and homework (30%), midterm exam (30%), and final exam (40%).
The class meets Tu Th 11:40am – 1:15pm in 110 Physical Sciences.
Instructor is Dan Friedman. His office hours are W 2-4pm in 417 Engineering 2, and by appointment.
Teaching Assistant is Aki Sukeda. His office hours are M 4-5pm and F 3-4pm in E2 403G and his sections meet M 9:20-10:25am in Kresge 325 and W 4:00-5:05pm in J Baskin 372.
A message from DRC. UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit your Accommodation Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me privately during my office hours or by appointment, preferably within the first two weeks of the quarter. At this time, we would also like us to discuss ways we can ensure your full participation in the course. We encourage all students who may benefit from learning more about DRC services to contact DRC by phone at 831-459-2089 or by email at drc@ucsc.edu.
A message on academic misconduct. The campus, and our program, takes seriously standards for recognizing sources and acknowledging help. If you are not familiar with such matters, please consult the library’s resource page, and the UC Santa Cruz Academic Misconduct Policy (the process is a bit different from MS students). Homework assignments encourage you to work with classmates as well as independently to solve problems, but to write up answers by yourself. Of course, exams must be done completely independently.
Readings
Due dates.
Final exam in class 4-7pm Monday Dec 11.
- Answer key for 2017 Final Exam // Posted on Dec. 13, 2017
- Highest score: 9675th percentile 8050th percentile 6825th percentile 58
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- answers to problems on choice over time // Posted on Dec. 10, 2017
- Answer key for problems not to be turned in on choice over time (unit 9), thanks once more to Aki!
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- this year’s official final formula sheet // Posted on Dec. 10, 2017
- Thanks to Katie, Vanshika and Begum!
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- Answer key to last year’s final exam // Posted on Dec. 10, 2017
- This year’s exam probably will be slightly shorter..
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- Practice problems on choice over time // Posted on Dec. 6, 2017
- Not to be turned in. Give them a try before Dec 10, when solutions will be posted.
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- answers to PS #4 // Posted on Dec. 1, 2017
- Answer key for PS 4, thanks again to Aki!
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- final practice problems // Posted on Dec. 1, 2017
- Last year’s final exam, plus a couple of other practice problems… will post answer key by Sunday morning Dec 10.
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- Notes #9. Intertemporal choice // Posted on Dec. 1, 2017
- Last set of lecture notes! Covers determination of riskless real interest rate, Fisher’s equation, and much more!
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- Notes #8: Oligopoly // Posted on Nov. 21, 2017
- Notes on several models of imperfect competition, aka oligopoly. See any micro textbook for coverage of most of these models. Varian covers many of them in Chapters 15 and 16.
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- Solutions to PS 3 // Posted on Nov. 20, 2017
- Solutions to PS 3, thanks to Aki!
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- Notes #7: Monopoly and price discrimination // Posted on Nov. 14, 2017
- Most of this material is covered in Varian, and in standard undergraduate texts. Please use these notes to focus your readings, and to pose questions in class.
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- Problem set 4 // Posted on Nov. 14, 2017
- Last problem set to be turned in. Covers decision theory, monopoly, price discrimination, and a bit of oligopoly. Due in class Thurs Nov 30.
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- Notes #6: Decision Theory // Posted on Nov. 7, 2017
- Lecture notes part 6. These are more self-contained than usual, because the material is hardly covered in the usual textbooks.
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- Bayes Spreadsheet // Posted on Nov. 7, 2017
- A sample excel spreadsheet for calculation posterior probabilities etc. Improvements due to Vanshika Fotedar.
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- Problem Set 3 // Posted on Nov. 2, 2017
- Third problem set, due in class Tuesday, November 14.
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- Answer key for midterm exam // Posted on Nov. 2, 2017
- Have a look while waiting to get your exam back…Thanks to Aki!
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- Notes #5: Risky Choice // Posted on Nov. 2, 2017
- Only the first 9 pages pertain to Econ 200; the rest may (or may not) be helpful for your course in Finance.
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- Midterm practice problems answer key // Posted on Oct. 29, 2017
- Answers and explanations for practice problems for midterm.
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- Notes #4: Consumer Choice and Demand // Posted on Oct. 25, 2017
- Again, please use them to focus your readings, and to pose questions in class.
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- Solutions to PS2 // Posted on Oct. 25, 2017
- answer key to second set of problems, thanks to Aki !
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- Practice Problems for Midterm Exam // Posted on Oct. 24, 2017
- Try to solve these problems but do not turn in your solutions. Do so before Oct 29, when solutions will be posted.If you want to try more practice problems, try these from Varian: 2.7, 3.3, 3.4, 4.3, 5.6, 5.9, 5.16, 6.1-6.3. Solutions to odd-numbered problems can be found in the back of the book.
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- official formula sheet // Posted on Oct. 24, 2017
- This cheat sheet for the midterm exam was prepared by students last year. Extra credit for a team of students that improves it this year.
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- Paper on estimating concavity // Posted on Oct. 22, 2017
- Aki found this practical (but slightly advanced) paper on checking for concavity when estimating production and cost functions. Completely optional for this course, but good to know about.
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- Notes #3: Competitive firms, profit and supply // Posted on Oct. 16, 2017
- Slightly revised. As usual, see Varian for crucial details.
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- Notes #2. Production, cost and supply // Posted on Oct. 13, 2017
- Lecture notes on production and cost, updated. As usual, remember that these are no substitute for reading the text… indeed, be sure to read Ch 1-6 of Varian right away.
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- Solutions to PS1 // Posted on Oct. 12, 2017
- Solutions to problem set 1, prepared by Aki.
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- Problem Set 1 // Posted on Oct. 8, 2017
- First problem set, due in class Tuesday, October 10. Correct version now posted.
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- Problem Set 2 // Posted on Oct. 6, 2017
- Due in class Tues Oct 24.
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- syllabus // Posted on Sept. 29, 2017
- Corrected course syllabus, including tentative schedule.
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- Notes #1. Competitive Markets // Posted on Sept. 28, 2017
- Lecture notes for Weeks 0-1. Updated slightly. Please use them to focus your readings, and your questions in class.
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- Market Data // Posted on Sept. 28, 2017
- Prices, Values and Costs from the double auction market run in the first class meeting. Use these raw data to answer a question in PS1.
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