SYLLABUS

BADM 202 PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS

THE CITADEL

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 and 10:00 pm

SPRING 2004 

INSTRUCTOR: W. William Woolsey

OFFICE: 273-A Bond Hall

TELEPHONE: 953-5161(O) 795-5062(H)

E-MAIL: Bill.Woolsey@Citadel.Edu

or      wwoolsey@comcast.net

OFFICE HOURS: Monday  2:00-3:30

                                Tuesday  2:00 – 3:30

                                 Wednesday, 2:00-3:30

                                 Or By Appointment

Or By Appointment

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Students must be able to discuss the various factors related to the demand for a good or service and relate to revenue and marginal revenue. Students must be able to illustrate these concepts using equations, spreadsheets, and diagrams.

2. Students must be able to discuss opportunity cost and sunk costs. Students must be able to define the various measures of the cost of production (total, fixed, variable, marginal, average total, and average variable) and illustrate using equations, spreadsheets, and diagrams.

3. Students must be able to explain the logic of profit maximization and illustrate using equations, spreadsheets, and diagrams.

4. Students must be able to calculate the value of a firm and discuss its implications for inter-temporal decision making.

5. Students must be able to discuss the competitive market process and the invisible hand of market coordination.

6. Students must be able to discuss various forms of market and political failure.

COURSE TEXT: Lecture Summaries—on the web—www.citadel.edu/faculty/woolsey

EVALUATION:

1.    Homework 25%

2.    Team Project 30%

3.    Tests (6) 30%

4.    Final Exam 15%

GRADING SCALE:

90 - 100 A

80 - 89 B

70 - 79 C

60 - 69 D

59 and below F

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Homework is an important part of this course. All homework assignments will be graded! Copying homework assignments is an honor violation. Homework must be stapled if there is more than one page. Also always put your name and the time your class meets on the front of your homework. Fold vertically and put your name on the outside.

2. The team project will involve a simple computer simulation. Each team will manage a firm that is in competition with the others. The goal is to make as much profit as possible. A written report of the teams’ activities will be due during the final exam period. The team must make an oral presentation describing the team’s activities during the final week of class. The written report must be prepared using a word processor, spreadsheets, and while content is most important, spelling and grammar count. The specifics of the assignment will be provided on a handout.

3. Students must complete six in-class exams (5% each) and a cumulative final exam (15%). There will be essay questions on the concepts and processes discussed in the text and class lectures. There will be problems and diagrams similar to the homework assignments.

4. Numeric grades are assigned for all assignments on a 100 point scale. No particular assignment is ever "curved." There will be no curve at mid-term. It is possible, however, that the final grades for the course will be "curved

SCHEDULE:  

Date

 

Lecture

Topic

Jan

14

Economic Orders

1

Jan

16

Laws of Supply and Demand

2

Jan

21

Equilibrium Price and Quantity

3

Jan

23

Price Controls

4

Jan

26

Changes in Supply and Demand

5

Jan

28

Factors Relating to Supply and Demand

6

Jan

30

Marginal Utility

7

Feb

2

Test 1

 

Feb

4

Demand Functions

8

Feb

6

Revenue

9

Feb

9

Demand Elasticities

10

Feb

11

Demand in Excel

11

Feb

13

Sunk and Opportunity Costs

12

Feb

16

Test 2

 

Feb

18

Marginal and Incremental Costs

13

Feb

20

Cost Functions and Diagrams

14

Feb

23

Costs in Excel

15

Feb

25

Business and Economic Profits

16

Feb

27

Test 3

 

Mar

1

Profit Maximizing Output

17

Mar

3

More Marginal Analysis

18

Mar

5

Profits in Excel

19

Mar

8

Short Run Production

20

Mar

10

Test 4

 

Mar

12

Marginal Product of Labor

21

Mar

15

Short Run Cost Function

22

Mar

17

Short Run Production in Excel

23

Mar

19

The Value of the Firm

24

Mar

29

Test 5

 

Mar

31

Demand for a Capital Good

25

Apr

2

Capital-Labor Ratio and Long Run Cost

26

Apr

5

Returns to Scale and Long Run Average Cost

27

Apr

7

Competition and Long Run Equilibrium

28

Apr

9

Creative Destruction

29

Apr

12

Exam 6

 

Apr

14

Monopoly and Competition

30

Apr

16

Taxes and Subsidies

31

Apr

19

External Costs and Public Goods

32

Apr

21

Presentation Firm A&B

 

Apr

23

Presentation Firm C&D

 

Apr

26

Presentation Firm E

 

Apr

28

Final 13:00

 

Apr

29

Final 13:00

 

Apr

30

Final 13:00

 

May  

1

Final 8:00