2020-2021 / GCER0110-1

Economics (Introduction to Macroeconomics and Microeconomics)

Duration

45h Th

Number of credits

 Executive Master in industrial Management7 crédits 

Lecturer

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

  • Introduction of economics:
- Economics, Scarcity and choice
- The world of Economics
- Why study Economics?
- The methods of Economics
- How to study Economics?
- The concept of opportunity cost
- Economic systems
- Specialization and exchange

  • Supply and Demand
- Markets
- Demand
- Supply
- Putting supply and demand together
- What happens when things change?
- Government intervention in markets
- Price elasticity of demand
- Other demand elasticities
III. Consumer choice
- The budget constraint
- The consumer’s goal
- Preferences
- Consumer decision making
- What happens when things change?
- Consumers in market
  • Production and cost
- The nature of the firm
- Thinking about production
- Production in the short run
- Thinking about cost
- Cost in the short run
- Production and cost in the long run
  • How firms make decisions: profit maximization
- The goal of profit maximization
- Understanding profit
- The firm’s constraints
- The profit - maximizing output level
- The importance of marginal decision making: a broader view
- Dealing with losses
- The goal of the firm revisited
  • Perfect competition
- What is perfect competition?
- The perfectly competitive firm
- Competitive markets in the short run
- Competitive markets in the long run
- What happens when things change?
VII. Monopoly
- What is a monopoly?
- The source of monopoly
- Monopoly goals and constraints
- Equilibrium in monopoly markets
- What happens when things change?
- Price discrimination
- The decline of monopoly
VIII. Monopolistic competition and oligopoly
- The concept of imperfect competition
- Monopolistic competition
- Oligopoly
  • The labor market
- Factor markets in general
- Labor markets in particular
- Demand for labor by a single firm
- The market demand for labor
- Labor supply
- Labor market equilibrium
- What happens when things change?
  • Income inequality
- Why do wages differ?
- Discrimination and wages
- Measuring income inequality
- Income inequality, fairness, and economics

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Through the study of Economics, students will develop:
- Knowledge and understanding about:
- The basic concepts of Economics including micro and macro economics
- The economic behavior of individuals, firms, institutions and governments
- The function and operation of markets
- The operation and management of economics
- Contemporary economic problems and issues facing individuals, firms and governments

- Skills to:
- Investigate and engage in effective analysis, synthesis and evaluation of economic information from a variety of sources
- Communicate economic information, ideas and issues in appropriate forms

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Organisational adjustments related to the current health context

Recommended or required readings

- Economics - Principles and Applications - Robert E. Hall and Lieberman

Assessment methods and criteria

Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.

- Participation: 15%
- Assignment: 15%
- Midterm Exam: 20%
- Final Exam: 50%

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

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Contacts

Tran Van Tan, Faculty of Construction Economics and Management,
National University of Civil Engineering, Room 308, A1 Building,
Email: tvtandhxd@gmail.com