Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Formalize the determinants of economic agents’ behaviour when pursuing clearly defined objectives.
Apply microeconomic tools to analyse strategic interactions among economic agents.
Use rigorous analytical reasoning to understand and predict the consequences of individual decisions in different economic environments.
Analyse the functioning of imperfectly competitive markets and the behaviour of firms with market power.
Assess the effects of uncertainty, imperfect information, and strategic interactions on market outcomes.
The course aims to strengthen students’ mastery of economic analysis based on rational decision-making. Particular emphasis is placed on situations in which individual decisions depend on the actions of others, as well as on environments characterized by uncertainty and imperfect information.
Special attention is devoted to the study of imperfect competition and strategic interactions among a limited number of firms. The course seeks to develop students’ ability to analyse economic behaviour rigorously and to understand its implications for market outcomes.
This course is a direct continuation of the introductory microeconomics course. It extends economic analysis in two main directions.
First, it broadens the analytical toolkit by extending the rational choice framework to situations involving uncertainty and strategic interactions among agents.
Second, it applies these tools to the study of specific market environments and economic issues, including imperfect competition, auctions, and asymmetric information.
1. Monopoly 2. Game theory 3. Oligopoly 4.Monopoly behavior 5. Auction theory 6. Asymmetric information
With the exception of the first and fourth class sessions, the course will be entirely distance learning. You will find on webcampus the complete slides of the course, chapter by chapter. These slides present
- the subject matter approached in a theoretical way (one file per chapter),
- exercises that illustrate the material. The exam will only cover such exercises
All these slides are also presented in video capsules which present the material, chapter by chapter. The slides of the same chapter are presented in several capsules, in order to keep each capsule relatively short. You can therefore view each video at different times, depending on your schedule.
Each week, you will go deeper into a chapter on your own. To do this, you must
- watch the video clips related to the theory of the chapter,
- try to solve by yourself the exercises proposed,
- watch the video clips on how to solve the exercises.
Each week, a question and answer session is organized on Teams (30 to 45 minutes).
- During this session, you will have the opportunity to ask questions related to the weekly chapter.
- No new material is covered in these sessions.
Two important notes:
- You must have viewed the vignettes BEFORE each Teams session. It is important to keep the rhythm: one week - one chapter.
- It is very important to have tried to solve the exercises on your own BEFORE viewing the solution on a capsule.
A little trick to spend less time (re-)watching a video: don't hesitate to increase the speed of the video; even at fast speed the video remains very audible.
An intermediate test is scheduled for the week following the third session. It will cover exercises on the material covered in the first three classes. The mark obtained for this test will count for one third of the points in the final mark for the first session under two conditions: (1) the test is passed and (2) the test mark is higher than the exam mark. The test mark will not be taken into account for the second session.
The exam and intermediate test are written, closed-book, face-to-face and last two hours.
The material is covered in the slides and video capsules on Webcampus.
H. Varian, Introduction à la microéconomie, De Boeck
Slides and some video capsules on webcampus
| Training | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Additional teaching units for the master's degree in economics (staggered timetable) (771P) | 1 | 5 | Yes |
| Bachelor in Economics and Management (Evenings and Weekends Schedule) | 2 | 5 | Yes |
| Bachelor in Law | 3 | 5 | No |