EC-220 Principles of Microeconomics

Course Description:

This course provides an introduction to the central concepts of microeconomic analysis and decision-making, such as scarcity, allocation of resources, demand and supply, elasticity and marginal utility. The concepts are then used to explain and analyze market structures, including perfect competition and monopoly. Other topics may include analysis of labor markets, property rights and international economic.

A. PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES (PLOs):

The student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate basic knowledge of each of the functional areas of business- accounting, management, marketing, economics and finance by emphasizing their importance in an organization and describing their interrelationship in the organization’s attempt to achieve its objective.
2. Demonstrate basic knowledge and skill in the use of cost and managerial concepts and techniques as management tools for planning, controlling, evaluating performance and making decisions
3. Demonstrate basic knowledge and skill in business mathematics and elementary statistics by accurately performing common business computations, statistical data presentation and analysis
4. Demonstrate basic knowledge and skill in intercultural writing and speaking appropriate for business
5. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the legal environment and ethical challenges confronting business in general and in the FSM, from both local and global perspectives

B. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLOs): (GENERAL)

The student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding, usage and application of basic economic principles.
2. Describe and apply the methods for analyzing consumer behavior through demand and supply, elasticity and marginal utility.
3. Understand the role of alternative property rights in resource allocation
4. Identify and appraise various models of how markets are organized, and the price and output decisions for maximizing profit.
5. Know how markets that fail to use resources efficiently create unintended effects

SLO	PLO 1	PLO 2	PLO 3	PLO 4	PLO 5
1	I			I
2	I			I
3	I			I
4	I			I
5	I			I

I = Introduced

D =Demonstrated

M = Mastered

C. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLOs): (SPECIFIC)

The student will be able to:

General SLO 1: Demonstrate an understanding, usage and application of basic economic principles.

Student Learning Outcomes	Assessment Strategies
1.1 Identify the earth’s natural resources and distinguish between renewable and non-renewable resources	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
1.2 Explain the concepts of insatiable wants, scarcity and choice	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
1.3 Differentiate between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams
1.4 Identify the factors of production and production possibilities	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
1.5 Explain the concepts of opportunity costs and the law of increasing costs	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
1.6 Explain the concepts of absolute and comparative advantages	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.

General SLO 2. Describe and apply the methods for analyzing consumer behavior through demand and supply, elasticity and marginal utility.

Student Learning Outcomes	Assessment Strategies
2.1 Demonstrate the measurement of individual demand, supply and market demand	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams..
2.2 Explain market day, short-run and long-run supply	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
2.3 Demonstrate the law of demand and how equilibrium price and quantity are determined	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
2.4 Demonstrate the measurement of demand and supply sensitivity or elasticity relative to changes in price, income, and price of substitute goods	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
2.5 Demonstrate the measurement of utility or satisfaction and its relationship to the law of demand	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.

General SLO 3. Understand the role of alternative property rights in resource allocation

Student Learning Outcomes	Assessment Strategies
3.1 Distinguish between the three forms of business; sole proprietorship, partnership and corporation	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
3.2 Demonstrate the calculation of various production costs; fixed, variable and marginal costs	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
3.3 Explain the law of diminishing returns	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
3.4 Differentiate and Explain the concepts of economies of scale and diseconomies	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.

General SLO 4. Identify and appraise various models of how markets are organized, and the price and output decisions for maximizing profit.

Student Learning Outcomes	Assessment Strategies
4.1 Explain the relationship between firms, industries and markets	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
4.2 Distinguish between the features of the four market structures; monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic and perfect competition	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
4.3 Demonstrate how firms in the four market structures determine their price, output and profit maximization	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.

General SLO 5. Know how markets that fail to use resources efficiently create unintended effects.

Student Learning Outcomes	Assessment Strategies
5.1 Differentiate between positive and negative externalities	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.
5.2 Explain what is market failure, government failure and how they can be corrected	Assignments, class project, quizzes and exams.

D. COURSE CONTENT

1. Foundations of economic thinking, opportunity cost, prod. possibilities & property rights
2. Supply and demand, price ceilings and floors
3. Elasticity, marginal utility and consumer choice
4. . Production costs and the profit maximizing decision
5. Decision-making under different market structures
6. Externalities, market failure and public choice
7. International trade
8. Discretionary topics:factor markets, income distribution, taxes, government spending, etc

E. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

Lectures, guest speakers, research project, business plan, case analysis, homework, classroom exercises, and various individual and group assignments. Power-point, LCD projections and videos will be used as instructional aid and other teaching materials depending on availability.

F. REQURIED TEXT(S) AND COURSE MATERIALS

Gotteil, Fred M E. Principles of Microeconomics. USA.: Thomson Publishing (4th Ed.), 2005. (or most recent edition).

G REFERENCE MATERIALS

None

H. INSTRUCTIONAL COSTS

None

I. EVALUATION

None

J. CREDIT BY EXAMINATION

None