Econ 1101:
Principles of Microeconomics (Fall 2018)
Class
Syllabus
|
Lecture |
Meeting Time |
Instructor |
Email |
Office Location |
Instructor Office Hours |
|
001 |
MWF 9:05-9:55
am |
holmes@umn.edu |
4-135 Hanson |
Wed.
1:30-3:25 pm |
|
|
022 |
MWF
10:10-11:00 am |
||||
|
044 |
T,Th
4:00-5:15 pm |
Hasan Tosun |
tosun007@umn.edu |
3-113 Hanson |
Wed.
1:00-3:00 pm |
|
054 |
Th 5:30-8:00
pm |
Alberto
Raya Munté |
rayax009@umn.edu |
3-131
Hanson |
Fri.
9:00-11:00 am |
|
062 |
T, Th
4:00-5:15 pm |
Heekwon
Choi |
choix743@umn.edu |
3-159
Hanson |
Tue.10:00-12:00
am |
|
066 |
T, Th
4:00-5:15 pm |
Yue
Hua |
huaxx112@umn.edu |
3-131 Hanson |
Thur
1:30-3:30 pm |
|
072 |
MWF 8:00-8:50
am |
Vitoria
Rabello De Castro |
rabel005@umn.edu |
3-163 Hanson |
Thur.
3:00-5:00 pm |
|
077 |
MW 4:00-5:15
pm |
Rafael
Roos Guthmann |
guthm020@umn.edu |
3-105 Hanson |
Mon.
1:45-3:45 pm |
|
078 |
MW 4:00-5:15
pm |
Ulises Serio |
serio010@umn.edu |
3-159 Hanson |
Wed.
2:00-4:00 pm |
Recitation List: Click here
for list of recitation sections, including teaching assistant emails.
Aplia
All students
are required to register with Aplia. Click here for
instructions for how to do this.
Economics and a Liberal Arts Education
A liberal arts
education provides a student with general skills. These skills are not only
valuable for a student’s career but also enhance a student’s ability to
understand the world and make contributions to society. The later includes the
capacity of being a well-informed citizen who can understand the arguments of
the great policy debates of our time.
Knowledge of
economics is essential for those who will work in business or policy spheres,
and helps in other careers like law and journalism. Beyond delivering career
skills, the study of economics contributes to a strong foundation of a liberal
arts education. Economics develops a set of tools that students can use to
satisfy their curiosity about social phenomena that have big impacts in their
lives, including changes in living standards, inequality, and globalization.
Economics teaches a logical way of thinking and analysis that has broad
applicability for understanding social phenomena beyond commerce, such as
issues in political science and sociology. Finally, many of the great policy
debates of our time are intrinsically economic debates. Through study of
economics, students can better understand the important issues at stake.
The approach of
economics is to build rigorous, fully-articulated models of the interaction of
social agents (like firms or consumers), where the incentives underlying the
behavior of the agents are explicitly specified. Typically, the agents in these
models are assumed to behave rationally. That is, the agents weigh the cost and
benefits of various alternatives and pick the best one in their interest.
Economists use the models both to understand how the economy works and to
analyze the impacts of changes in policy.
In this course,
we develop the basic economic theory of firms and consumers and their
interactions in markets. From these primitives, we derive supply and demand and
solve for the competitive equilibrium allocation of the free market. We define
notions of efficiency and prove one of the central results in economics, the
First Welfare Theorem. This result is that under certain conditions the free-market allocation is efficient
(where efficiency is defined in a precise way). Put another way, under certain
conditions the market maximizes the size of the social pie. Next we consider
the effects of government policies and determine how these policies affect both
the size of the pie and its distribution across individuals in the economy.
Next we introduce the concepts of externalities and monopoly and show how these
situations lead the first welfare theorem to break down. That is, the market
allocation no longer maximizes the pie.
We develop all
of these concepts in an example economy called Econland that trades in widgets.
This is a simple economy that is rigorously defined. We keep coming back to
Econland throughout the semester and map it into various policy applications. For
example, in one application, one actor in Econland is
Empirical work
in economics starts from a foundation of explicit models, and aims to test
theories and estimate parameters so the models can be used to quantitatively
evaluate the impacts of policies. The course exposes students to the practice
of empirical work in economics. The course includes assignments where students
manipulate economic data in a manner that: (a) enables the students to derive
interesting and useful results on important economic issues and (b) at the same
time highlights the limitations of the primitive analysis, and explains the
directions that can be taken with the help of more advanced techniques taught
in upper-level classes and graduate programs. While there are exceptions,
economics is mainly not a laboratory science. Rather, economic data is mainly
created by a social process beyond the researchers control. This presents
challenges that will be discussed in some of the homework exercises.
There is some
research in experimental economics and the class will introduce students to
this subfield of economics. In particular, the class will participate in
several experimental auctions and the data generated by the experiment will be
discussed in class.
Global Perspectives
The centerpiece
of the class will be to address the following four global issues:
Global Issue 1:
Global Externalities: Climate Change
How do we
address externalities that operate at the global level? Specifically, what
should be done about carbon emissions and climate change? Do we use
market-based methods, like taxes or tradable allowances, as recommended by
economists? Do we allow rich countries to buy pollution rights from poor
countries? Should the
Global Issue 2:
International Trade and its Impacts
Globalization
has led to dramatic increases in trade between countries. How has globalization
changed the overall size of the global pie, the division of the pie across
nations? More specifically, what has been the impact of the bilateral trade
relationship between
Global Issue 3:
Intellectual Property Protection in the Global Economy
What should the
role of intellectual property protection be in the global economy? Should
protection be weakened or strengthened? More narrowly, what should intellectual
policy protection be in the pharmaceutical industry? Currently, intellectual
property laws are strong in the
Global Issue 4:
Globalization, Inequality, and International Migration
In recent
decades there has been a sharp rise inequality in the United States and in many
other countries throughout the world.
Why is this happening, and what role does globalization play in the
process? In addition to inequality
within countries, there is substantial inequality in average incomes across
countries, creating incentives for people from poor countries to migrate to
rich countries. What are the economic
impacts of migration policies?
The lectures
will be used, first, to build the foundations (e.g., the development of
Econland) under which it will be possible to undertake the analysis of the four
global issues above. The lectures will be used, second, to directly cover the
four issues. As a Global Perspectives class, lectures will focus on the world
beyond the
In order to
promote opportunities for students to formulate and express opinions, the class
will feature platform debates on two of the global issues. For issue 1 and 4,
there will be a week in the recitation sections in which students will debate
the issues. Each section will be responsible for coming up with a platform that
addresses the policy issue in some way. A platform consists of a specific
policy proposal related to the issue as well as several brief arguments in
support of the proposal. Students in the class will be free to propose
platforms and the Teaching Assistant running the recitation will write the
various proposals on the board. Students will make cases for the various
platforms. The process will be over when more than half the students in the
section vote in favor of a platform. A
student’s contribution to the discussion will be evaluated by the students
teaching assistant and this performance will count towards the homework for
that week. (The debate contribution on that week’s homework will be worth 10
points out of a 100 point scale, with 5 additional bonus points allowed for
particularly useful contributions.)
International Contexts of the Economic
Issues
We emphasize
that as we go through each of the four centerpiece economic global issues, we
will be putting these issues within the contexts of how specific countries
relate to these issues. For example, in comparing fuel consumption between
Europe and the United States, we will go into the details of the different tax
policies pursued by the different countries and also provide some of the
historical background for these differences. For issue 2 on international trade
and its impacts, we will get into some details about the Chinese economy and
its workforce and compare it with details about advanced economies like the
U.S. and Europe. In the homework, students will be working with detailed data
of what kinds of goods these regions are trading with each other.
Course Mechanics
While Econ 1101
is offered at various times and is taught by various instructors, all of the
lectures are under the same common faculty management. The midterms and final
exam are administered at the same across all the sections. There are two
midterms and these will be given in the evening. The midterms and final exam
are all multiple choice.
There are 11
homework assignments and these will all be completed through Aplia, a web-based
economics teaching package. Students will be required to purchase a
subscription to Aplia to enroll in the class because that is how all of the
homework will be completed. For instructions on how to enroll in Aplia, click here. At the
bookstore, students can purchase a bundle that includes a hard copy of the
textbook as well as an access code for a subscription to Aplia for $112.65. Note: Do not lose the access code that
comes with the shrink-wrapped bundle. You will need this access code to enroll
in Aplia.
The textbook
is:
Mankiw, N.
Gregory, Principles of Microeconomics,
8th Edition, Cengage Learning.
In addition to
the text, there are seven additional readings and links to these readings are
available at the course web site.
Several of the
homeworks will require students to manipulate economic data using Microsoft
Excel. Many students have their own computers and their own copies of Excel.
The remaining students can obtain access to Excel by using computer labs on
campus.
Prerequisites
Students are
expected to have basic skills in algebra and the ability to work with graphs.
Homework Set 1 includes a practice problem (i.e. it is not graded) for a review
of these skills.
Canvas Site
The basic information
for the class, except for the homework at Aplia, will be posted at the class
Canvas site, which each student can access at http://myu.umn.edu. The slides used in the large-lecture sections
will be posted at this site as well as other course materials.
The Canvas site
will also be used to conduct interactive forums, where students can interact
online with instructors and other students.
The Forum for Students Questions
is a place where questions can be posted about course material as well as
administrative matters. Economics in the News is a place where
instructors post news articles related to the topics in the class. Students are encouraged to post comments and
additional articles.
Student Privacy
In this class,
our use of technology through Canvas will sometimes make students' names and U
of M Internet IDs visible within the course website, but only to other students
in the same class. Since we are using a secure, password-protected course
website, this will not increase the risk of identity theft or spamming for
anyone in the class. If you have concerns about the visibility of your Internet
ID, then we recommend that you modify your Profile setting to limit the
visibility of this information.
When communicating
through online forums, students are expected to maintain the same high
standards of etiquette that would be expected in the classroom. In particular,
students should be respectful of the other course participants, including
fellow students as well as instructors and teaching assistants. Students should
use appropriate language that is not offensive.
Details about Exams, Homeworks, and
Grading.
The midterm
date and time of the midterms and final are as follows:
|
Midterm 1 |
Monday evening,
October 8, 7:00-8:00 pm |
|
Midterm 2 |
Monday
evening, November 12, 7:00-8:00 pm |
|
Final Exam |
Friday
evening, December 14, 6:30-8:30 pm |
NOTE the two
midterms take place in the evenings. Room assignments for exams will in general
be different from the regular classroom location and will be posted at the
course web site.
For each
midterm, there will be a makeup exam held at 4:00 pm on the Wednesday following
the exam. Students will be eligible to take this exam if either (1) they cannot
take the regularly scheduled midterm because of a documented illness or (2)
they are registered for a class that conflicts with the midterm time. If a
student is unable to take the regularly scheduled midterm because of either of
these two reasons and if the student is also unable to take the makeup exam,
the students final grade will be based on the other midterm, the final, and the
homework. A student who is unable to take both midterms will have to drop the
class. (Or take an incomplete in the class and start all over in a subsequent
semester.)
The Final Exam
must be taken at the scheduled time, unless a student has a documented illness
or has a conflict on account of a final exam in a different class at the same
time. For such students, there will be a makeup exam on a later date during the
final exam period.
Registration with the Headgrader to Take
the Makeup
Students with a
conflict with any of the regularly scheduled exams (the two midterms or the
final) must register for the make-up for that.
The registration deadline to
take the makeup in good standing is 4 pm on the Monday one week prior to the regularly-scheduled exam. In order to
qualify for any bonus points allocated on the exam, registration must be
complete by this time, including any needed documentation. Students who miss
this deadline, but complete registration by 4 pm on the Friday before the exam,
will be permitted to take the makeup, but will forfeit any bonus points
allocated on the exam. Students who fail to complete registration for the
makeup by 4 pm of the Friday prior will not be permitted to take the makeup,
unless the reason for missing the regular exam is a documented medical issue.
To register for
the makeup, students need to send an email to headgrader@gmail.com. The student should
include the student’s ID and x500 username in the signature line of the
email. (The x500 username is the
university email address without “@umn.edu.”)
Homework
All homework is
completed at Aplia. (In some cases, students will use Excel to perform
calculations needed to do the homework. However, the final results of these
calculations will be submitted through Aplia.) There are eleven homeworks.
Homeworks are due Tuesday evenings at 11:45 p.m. central time. Late homework
will not be accepted. Students traveling to a different time zone should take
note that the deadline is central time.
Homework Policy Regarding Illness and
Special Circumstances
In a large
operation such as this, it is to be expected that there will be students who
become ill or face some other special circumstances that prevent them from
completing a problem set at the allotted time. To accommodate students in such
situations, the homework grade will use only the nine highest homework scores.
If a student is ill and cannot submit the homework on time, this homework will
be dropped (assuming the student submits a least nine other homeworks by the
end of the semester). Students are encouraged to finish homework before the
last minute of the deadline, in case something unexpected comes up that
prevents them from completing homework at the last minute. In that way, the
student can save a homework drop for later use.
We make one
exception about the due date for homework 1 for students who ADD the class in
the second week of the term. Such a student should contact the HEAD GRADER (headgrader@gmail.com) and the deadline
for completing homework 1 will be extended for that student. (No other homework
besides homework 1 will have their due dates extended, even to students who add
the class late. A homework drop will be used for any other case.)
How the Weekly Homework Set is Scored
On Aplia, each
homework is broken up into several parts and the points for each part is
specified. For each weekly homework, we will take the Aplia points for that
week and rescale it to a 100-point basis. Next, we will add 5 percentage points
to each students weekly score, unless doing so raises the score above 100 percent,
in which case the weekly score is capped at 100 percent. So a student getting
95 percent or more of the homework in a given week gets full credit (100
percent), a student scoring 90 percent gets 95, and so on.
Academic Dishonesty
The test-taking
period begins when a student is handed the question sheet and ends after the
students answer sheet has been collected. During the test-taking period, a
student may not speak with any other student, nor use any communication device
or notes. Any violation of this rule, regardless of the subject matter of the
communication, is considered a form of academic dishonesty, and it will not be
tolerated in this class. See the discussion below on Scholastic Dishonesty.
Course Grade
The overall
numerical course score will be determined as follows.
|
Course
Component |
Weight (Percent) |
|
Homework |
20 |
|
Midterm 1 |
22 |
|
Midterm 2 |
22 |
|
Final |
36 |
|
Total |
100 |
An exception to
the above weighting will be made if a student does relatively poorly on Midterm
1 (which will be the first college multiple choice exam for many of the
students in the class). In this case, Midterm 1 will be weighted 10%, while
Midterm 2 will be worth 27%, and the Final 43% (and Homework 20%). Each
students overall score will be calculated under both weighting schemes and the
highest score under the two weighting schemes will be selected to be the
students overall course score.
The numerical
course grade will be converted to a letter grade according to the following
scale:
|
92-100 |
A |
|
90-91 |
A- |
|
88-89 |
B+ |
|
82-87 |
B |
|
80-81 |
B- |
|
78-79 |
C+ |
|
72-77 |
C |
|
70-71 |
C- |
|
68-69 |
D+ |
|
60-67 |
D |
|
59 and below |
F |
Who to Contact for Help
Your have
questions or need help regarding course content?
- Talk to your instructor or teaching
assistant during office hours or after class.
- Post a question on the weekly
discussion forum.
Questions about
grading of exams or problem sets?
- Contact your teaching assistant.
- If the issue is involves a
technical glitch (e.g. there is a mixup on Aplia), email the Head Grader
at headgrader@gmail.com.
You have a
conflict with the midterm or final (or are sick) and need to take the makeup?
- Email the Head Grader at headgrader@gmail.com.
Economics Department Policies
The class will abide by the Economics
Department Policy and Procedures. These are listed below.
DEPARTMENT OF
ECONOMICS -- PROCEDURES AND POLICIES 2018-2019
4-101 Hanson
Hall (612-625-6353)
COURSE
PREREQUISITES:
Students are
expected to have successfully completed all prerequisites prior to taking an
Economics course.
DISABLED
STUDENTS:
Reasonable
accommodations will be provided for all students with documented disabilities
(by the OSD). Contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to work
out details. This information will be kept confidential.
STUDENT
MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICES:
As a student
you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such
as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, difficulty
concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or
stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a
student's ability to participate in daily activities. University of Minnesota
services are available to assist you with addressing these and other concerns.
Information about confidential mental health services is available on campus
at: http://www.mentalhealth.umn.edu/. Student Counseling
Services website: http://www.uccs.umn.edu/index.html
DROPPING A
CLASS:
Termination of attendance
alone is not sufficient to drop a class. You must notify the Registrar’s
office. Please contact your academic (college) adviser for details on this
process and pay attention to University deadlines for add/drop.
INCOMPLETE
GRADE:
Low class standing
is not a valid reason for an Incomplete grade. An I is given only in
exceptional circumstances like family emergencies or hospitalization;
arrangements must be worked out between the student and instructor before
the final exam. We require written proof of emergencies. Details about I grades
and how to make it up -in the Economics Undergraduate Handbook.
MAKE-UP
EXAMS:
Make up exams
are possible for the final exam only if the student has another exam scheduled
at the same time, or has three exams within a 16 hour period. This should be
pre-arranged with the instructor at least three weeks before the final exam.
Make up final exams may also be possible for documented medical emergencies.
SCHOLASTIC
DISHONESTY:
"The
College of Liberal Arts defines scholastic dishonesty broadly as any act by a
student that misrepresents the student's own academic work or that compromises
the academic work of another. Examples include cheating on assignments or
exams, plagiarizing (misrepresenting as one's own anything done by another),
unauthorized collaboration on assignments or exams, or sabotaging another
student's work".
The University
Student Conduct Code defines scholastic dishonesty as “Submission of false records
of academic achievement; cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing;
altering, forging, or misusing a University academic record; taking, acquiring,
or using text materials without faculty permission; acting alone or in
cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades,
honors, awards, or professional endorsement.”
Penalties for
scholastic dishonesty of any kind in any course will entail an "F"
for the particular assignment/exam or the course.
Website for
information on Student Academic Misconduct
-- http://oscai.umn.edu/avoid-violations/avoiding-scholastic-dishonesty
STUDENT
CONDUCT AND CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR:
Students are
expected to contribute to a calm, productive, and learning environment.
Information on student classroom behavior issues is at: http://policy.umn.edu/education/studentconductcode-proc01.Check
the Student
Conduct Code to find out what is expected of you.
STUDY ABROAD
IN ECONOMICS:
The Department encourages you to undertake Study Abroad. There are many
courses in foreign countries that can satisfy some economics major, minor, or
Liberal Education requirements. For more information, please contact our
Undergraduate Advisers, Ms. Annie Bigley and Ms. Tiffany Kroeze Murphy, or the
University’s Learning Abroad Center at http://www.umabroad.umn.edu/
UNDERGRADUATE
ADVISER:
Contact the
Undergraduate Advisers if you wish to sign up for an Economics major or minor
or to get information about institutions of higher study. Your APAS form will
list your progress toward an Economics degree.
Adviser: Ms. Tiffany Kroeze Murphy and Ms. Annie
Bigley ( econadv@umn.edu); Sign up for appointments at econ.appointments.umn.edu
Office: 4-100 Hanson Hall , Phone number:
612-625-5893.
UNDERGRADUATE
PROGRAM INFORMATION:
Available on the Internet
at: https://cla.umn.edu/economics/undergraduate. Registration policies are listed in the
University Course Schedules and College Bulletins.
COMPLAINTS
OR CONCERNS ABOUT COURSES:
All course
grades are subject to department review.
Please contact
your instructor or TA if you have any complaints/concerns about the course. If
your concerns are not resolved after talking with your instructor, you can
contact: Professor Simran Sahi, Director
of Undergraduate Studies.
(Phone):
612-625-6353 and E-mail: ssahi@umn.edu .