The students learn the basic concepts in Microeconomics and some basics in game theory. The student will understand the working of markets in modern economies and the role of decision making. Furthermore, she should be able to understand simple game theoretic argumentation in different fields of Economics.

In the two main parts of the course problems of microeconomic decision making (household behavior, firm behavior) and problems of commodity allocation on markets (market equilibria and efficiency of markets) as well are discussed. In the final part of the course basics of imperfect competition (oligopolistic markets) and of game theory are presented.

It is the main aim of this course to provide basic knowledge in economic modelling. In particular, the student should be able to analyze market processes and the determinants of market results. Furthermore, she should be able to evaluate the effects of economic policy measures on market behavior and propose alternative, more effective policy measures.

In particular, the student should learn

• to apply simple microeconomic concepts,
• to analyze the structure of real world economic phenomena,
• to judge the possible effects of economic policy measures on the behavior of economic agents (in simple decision problems),
• to suggest alternative policy measures,
• to analyze as a participant of a tutorial simple economic problems by solving written exercises and to present the results of the exercises on the blackboard,
• to become familiar with the basic literature on microeconomics.

The student should gain basic knowledge in order to help in practical problems

• to analyze the structure of microeconomics relationships and to present own problem solutions,
• solve simple economic decision problems.

The assessment consists of a written exam (120 min) following §4, Abs. 2, 1 of the examination regulation. The main exam takes place subsequent to the lecture.

The re-examination is offered at the same examination period. Usually, only repeating candidates are entitled for taking place the re-examination. For a detailed description on the exam regulations see the information of the respective chair.

The total workload for this course is approximately 150 hours.

• H. Varian, Grundzüge der Mikroökonomik, 5. Auflage (2001), Oldenburg Verlag
• Pindyck, Robert S./Rubinfeld, Daniel L., Mikroökonomie, 6. Aufl., Pearson. Münschen, 2005
• Frank, Robert H., Microeconomics and Behavior, 5. Aufl., McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005