Economic Institutions
A.Y. 2019/2020
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to provide students with the knowledge of economic principles, methods and basic tools. They are also expected to learn and master basic economic terminology, to understand the economists' view of the world and how markets and price mechanism function and to recognize economic actions and activities in the everyday life. Being an introductory course, Microeconomics and Welfare Economics will be mainly addressed, while Macroeconomics will only be mentioned. To be consistent with the objectives of the degree course "Human Science of Environment, Landscape and Territory", the fundamentals of Environmental Economics and Urban and Regional Economics will also be briefly presented.
Expected learning outcomes
During the course, the students will be introduced to the fundamentals of economics, i.e. economic principles, methods, basic tools, and terminology, thus being provided with a new perspective on social sciences. At the end of the course, they will be able to understand and explain the behaviour of households (consumer theory), firms (production theory) and government, and to describe the most important market mechanisms and types, using graphs and very basic maths. Students will also learn to identify welfare issues and market failures, such as, in particular, environmental troubles, thus being able to address real problems and solution proposals in current economic policy.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course is structured as follows: the first part is about language and fundamentals, concerning market analysis, i.e. consumer and production behaviour, and market types, while the second part is mainly focused on Welfare Economics: surplus and market failures will be explored. Lastly, Macroeconomics, Environmental Economics and Urban and Regional Economics will be also briefly addressed.
Overview: Economics: definition, principles, tools e methods. Market: ü Demand and Supply. Equilibrium. Elasticity and Revenues ü Consumer choice (Budget constraints and Preferences) and Demand ü Costs and Supply ü Market types (perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly) Welfare Economics: ü Surplus; ü Market failures (Externality, Public Goods, Information failure, Market power) ü Taxation Macroeconomics (grounding) Environmental Economics (grounding) Urban and Regional Economics (grounding)
The program is the same for those who can not attend the course.
Overview: Economics: definition, principles, tools e methods. Market: ü Demand and Supply. Equilibrium. Elasticity and Revenues ü Consumer choice (Budget constraints and Preferences) and Demand ü Costs and Supply ü Market types (perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly) Welfare Economics: ü Surplus; ü Market failures (Externality, Public Goods, Information failure, Market power) ü Taxation Macroeconomics (grounding) Environmental Economics (grounding) Urban and Regional Economics (grounding)
The program is the same for those who can not attend the course.
Prerequisites for admission
The course aims at introducing students to the fundamentals of economics using a very simple formal approach dealing with basic concepts and formulas (such as e.g. Cartesian axes, 1st grade equations, plane shapes area). No prior knowledge of economics is needed.
Teaching methods
The course includes 40h of lectures. An applied in-depth analysis on a specific topic will be proposed. Students are strongly recommended to attend the class; otherwise, slides on Ariel and the suggested readings will be very useful for passing the exam.
Teaching Resources
Slides will be uploaded on Ariel at the end of the class week. Suggested reading: N. Gregory Mankiw (2017), Principles of Microeconomics, 6th ed., Cengage Learning (or any other text of Microeconomics in english). The textbook is the same for those who can not attend the course.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam will be written, including open and close questions. Oral integration could be asked by the teacher (compulsory) or by the student (facultative), if the final grade is ≥ 18. The facultative in-depth analysis will also be evaluated. The final course grade range is 0-30. Methods and criteria are the same for those who can not attend the course.
Unita' didattica A
SECS-P/01 - ECONOMICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
SECS-P/01 - ECONOMICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours