Based on this course, students will acquire the necessary knowledge to make social, business, or political decisions that are consistent with the fundamental principles of microeconomics. Microeconomics, as understood in this context, is a branch of economics that focuses on studying the behavior of individual agents, as opposed to macroeconomics, which examines the behavior of aggregates. The object of study in microeconomics generally includes individuals, families, and businesses, as well as the consequences of business, social, or political decisions on them, primarily through the allocation or reallocation of scarce resources among alternative ends. Students will learn to analyze the mechanisms that determine the relative prices of goods and factors, as well as the effects of different institutions on key variables such as market prices, quantities traded, and the profits of businesses and consumers. Furthermore, students will be trained to adopt a critical perspective regarding the limitations of microeconomics.
BLOCK 1. INTRODUCTION
T.1 Basic Principles
T.2 Economic Models: Trade-offs and Trade
BLOCK 2. SUPPLY AND DEMAND
T.3 Supply, Demand, and Equilibrium
BLOCK 3. CONSUMER AND PRODUCTION
T.4 Price and Quantity Controls: Market Interventions
T.5 Elasticity and Taxes
T.6 Behind the Supply Curve: Inputs and Costs
BLOCK 4. MARKETS
T.7 Perfect Competition and the Supply Curve
T.8 Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition
BLOCK 5. MARKET REGULATION
T.9 Externalities and Public Goods
The working methodology for this course, in its in-person format, is highly practical in orientation. It will be delivered through work sessions that include an introductory part for each of the topics or models covered, and a practical part involving case studies, text analysis and discussion, and individual or group responses to real socio-economic problems, applying the concepts learned in a hands-on manner.
The aim is to consolidate students? understanding of various Microeconomic concepts in an environment of discussion and analysis.
? Contextualization: Each topic is introduced with a mind-map connecting different concepts and the historical-cultural context in which each school of thought developed.
? Reflection: Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking. Various alternatives are consistently presented, and students are asked to argue for what they believe is the best option.
? Conceptualization: Each student must create their own personal mind-map for the overall subject and each topic. They may not simply copy the one provided by the instructor; they must enrich it.
? Experimentation: In several chapters, students are encouraged to be proactive in changing the format: new locations, articles contributed by themselves, etc.
? Evaluation: At the end of the course, students will be assessed on the degree to which they have internalized the main concepts and their interrelations.
Use of AI tools:
If students use AI tools in any activity, they must include a paragraph indicating how the AI was used and what instructions were given to obtain the results. Failure to do so will be considered a violation of academic honesty policies.
To be eligible for assessment in the ordinary examination period, all evaluation activities must have been completed.
Assessable activities must be submitted on the dates indicated by the instructor. If, for any duly justified and communicated reason, students are unable to submit the activities within the established deadline, they may do so before the date of the subject?s final exam, so that the instructor can grade them. However, in this case, the instructor is not obliged to provide feedback on these activities.
Furthermore, students have the right to take the final written exam even if they have not submitted all other evaluation activities. However, the final grade for the subject will only be calculated if all activities have been submitted, according to the evaluation criteria and weighting established in this syllabus. If any required activity is not submitted or completed, the student will be recorded as ?Not Submitted? in the grade report for that exam period.
To pass the subject, students must achieve a minimum grade of 5 from the combined continuous and final evaluation.
At Universidad Comillas, a minimum grade of 4 is required on the final exam to combine it with the continuous assessment grade, both in the ordinary and extraordinary examination periods.
EXTRAORDINARY EXAMINATION PERIOD
The evaluation criteria are the same as in the ordinary period, so all evaluation activities considered during the course must be submitted. Grades for completed activities (including the final written exam) will be retained while pending activities are completed. The same weighting criteria as the ordinary evaluation will apply. This measure applies only for the current academic year; if the student does not pass the extraordinary exam, re-enrollment will require repeating the entire subject.
Written Exam: 60%
Group Interaction Evaluation: 20%
Written Assignments: 20%
The course will be based on the following two textbooks, whose use is essential; the second part of these textbooks will also be used for the Macroeconomics course in the second semester.
PAUL KRUGMAN, ROBIN WELLS, KATHRYN GRADDY ?Fundamentos de Economía?; Ed.
Reverté.
MANKIW, N. G., & TAYLOR, M. P. ?Economía?; Ed. Paraninfo
Where students will find the basic texts as well as a multitude of supplementary materials and references that will allow them to broaden and deepen their understanding of each topic covered in the course, according to their interests.
Additionally, the depth of the textbook can be complemented with the following book (some topics, texts, and examples are repeated), as it serves as an extension of the previous textbook.
PAUL KRUGMAN Y ROBIN WELLS ?Introducción a la Economía: Microeconomía?; Ed,
Reverte.
DEMETRIO IPARRAGUIRRE, Lecciones de microeconomía teórica. Publicaciones de la Universidad de Deusto.
HAL R. VARIAN, Microeconomía Intermedia. Séptima Edición. Antoni Bosch Editor
ROBERT FRANK, Microeconomía y Conducta. Quinta edición. McGraw Hill
ROBERT S. PINDYCK y DANIEL L. RUBINFELD, Microeconomía. Octava edición. Pearson-Prentice Hall.
UGARTE, D. Microeconomía del Amor; autoedición. http://www.eumed.net/cursecon/libreria/2004/du-amor.pdf