A: COURSE OVERVIEW & INTRODUCTION
FN 100 introduces students to economics at individual/household and firm level. It primarily focuses on how these units make decisions (allocate resources) – covering basic concepts and theories such as utility, demand and supply, theory of prices, the theory of the firm, and distribution of income. The course provides a foundation for further study in economics, but is sufficiently self-contained to provide grounding for those who do not intend to take the subject any further.
B. COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objective of the course is to introduce students to formal economic reasoning and enable them acquire a basic understanding of:
i. The theory of consumer behavior
ii. Theory of production and the firm
iii. Demand and supply and
iv. Relation of market conditions, firm behavior and equilibrium
C. LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successfully completion of the course a student should be able to apply terminologies as well as graphical and mathematical techniques for basic microeconomic analysis. Specifically, students should know and be able to:
i. explain and apply utility theory to consumer behavior,
ii. understand and explain the basic theory of demand and supply, including nature and application of price, cross, and income elasticities;
iii. explain the basic theory of production and costs; and
iv. explain and analyze production and pricing behavior/decisions for firms operating in markets characterized by perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.
D. COURSE PREREQUISITE AND DELIVERY METHODOLOGY
The learning process in this course consists of 2-hour lectures and 1-hour seminars per week for 15 weeks. Most of the interactive discussions and tutorials will be handled in the seminars.
The course builds from the assumption of knowledge of basic economics by the students. Students are expected to go through the relevant readings and assigned materials before lectures. Some material covered in the course may be difficult to understand merely by reading the text. Students are expected to attend all classes, work in groups, participate in discussion and ask questions.
- Instructor: Dr. Neema Robert