The course deals with some classical topics of microeconomics at the level of a master program. Topics include consumer and production theory, choice under uncertainty (portfolio and insurance decisions), aggregation, exchange of commodities and of financial assets, general competitive equilibrium (existence and welfare properties). Its main goal is to provide students with those notions and methodologies that are required to successfully continue their studies in a doctoral program or to pursue their career as economists in the private sector or in a public institution.
Curriculum
scheda docente
materiale didattico
1.1 Consumer theory: Classical demand theory (budget constraint, preferences, utility, consumption demand, indirect utility, expenditure function, welfare evaluation, equivalent and compensating variation, axioms of revealed preferences).
1.2 Production theory: Production sets. Profit maximization and cost minimization. The geometry of costs.
Part 2: Choice under uncertainty
2.1 Theory: Lotteries. Preferences over lotteries. Expected Utility Theory (EUT). Money lotteries and risk aversion. Comparison of payoff distributions in terms of returns and risk. Subjective probabilities. Some criticisms to EUT.
2.2 Applications: insurance and portfolio choice.
Part 3: Aggregation
3.1 Demand aggregation.
3.2 Supply aggregation.
3.3 On the existence of a "representative agent".
Part 4: General competitive equilibrium and its welfare properties
4.1 Simple economies: the Edgworth box, 1 producer \& 1 consumer economy, 2X2 economy.
4.2 Pareto optimality and social welfare optima: feasibility, Pareto optimal problem, welfare function, Pareto frontier.
Part 5: Possible additional topics
5.1 The positive theory of equilibrium Existence, uniqueness.
5.2 Competitive equilibrium under uncertainty: Markets for contingent commodities. Arrow-Debreu equilibrium. Markets for assets and insurance policies. Back to welfare properties of competitive equilibria. Sequential trade and incomplete markets.
5.3 Basic principles of financial economics: The fundamental theorem of asset pricing. Mean-variance analysis.
H. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, WW Norton and co. New York, III edition.
Programma
Part 1: Consumer and production theory1.1 Consumer theory: Classical demand theory (budget constraint, preferences, utility, consumption demand, indirect utility, expenditure function, welfare evaluation, equivalent and compensating variation, axioms of revealed preferences).
1.2 Production theory: Production sets. Profit maximization and cost minimization. The geometry of costs.
Part 2: Choice under uncertainty
2.1 Theory: Lotteries. Preferences over lotteries. Expected Utility Theory (EUT). Money lotteries and risk aversion. Comparison of payoff distributions in terms of returns and risk. Subjective probabilities. Some criticisms to EUT.
2.2 Applications: insurance and portfolio choice.
Part 3: Aggregation
3.1 Demand aggregation.
3.2 Supply aggregation.
3.3 On the existence of a "representative agent".
Part 4: General competitive equilibrium and its welfare properties
4.1 Simple economies: the Edgworth box, 1 producer \& 1 consumer economy, 2X2 economy.
4.2 Pareto optimality and social welfare optima: feasibility, Pareto optimal problem, welfare function, Pareto frontier.
Part 5: Possible additional topics
5.1 The positive theory of equilibrium Existence, uniqueness.
5.2 Competitive equilibrium under uncertainty: Markets for contingent commodities. Arrow-Debreu equilibrium. Markets for assets and insurance policies. Back to welfare properties of competitive equilibria. Sequential trade and incomplete markets.
5.3 Basic principles of financial economics: The fundamental theorem of asset pricing. Mean-variance analysis.
Testi Adottati
A. Mas-Colell, M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, 1995H. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, WW Norton and co. New York, III edition.
Modalità Erogazione
Class lecturesModalità Frequenza
Three weakly lectures during the academic semesterModalità Valutazione
Final, written exam to be taken in class (closed-book)
scheda docente
materiale didattico
1.1 Consumer theory: Classical demand theory (budget constraint, preferences, utility, consumption demand, indirect utility, expenditure function, welfare evaluation, equivalent and compensating variation, axioms of revealed preferences).
1.2 Production theory: Production sets. Profit maximization and cost minimization. The geometry of costs.
Part 2: Choice under uncertainty
2.1 Theory: Lotteries. Preferences over lotteries. Expected Utility Theory (EUT). Money lotteries and risk aversion. Comparison of payoff distributions in terms of returns and risk. Subjective probabilities. Some criticisms to EUT.
2.2 Applications: insurance and portfolio choice.
Part 3: Aggregation
3.1 Demand aggregation.
3.2 Supply aggregation.
3.3 On the existence of a "representative agent".
Part 4: General competitive equilibrium and its welfare properties
4.1 Simple economies: the Edgworth box, 1 producer \& 1 consumer economy, 2X2 economy.
4.2 Pareto optimality and social welfare optima: feasibility, Pareto optimal problem, welfare function, Pareto frontier.
Part 5: Possible additional topics
5.1 The positive theory of equilibrium Existence, uniqueness.
5.2 Competitive equilibrium under uncertainty: Markets for contingent commodities. Arrow-Debreu equilibrium. Markets for assets and insurance policies. Back to welfare properties of competitive equilibria. Sequential trade and incomplete markets.
5.3 Basic principles of financial economics: The fundamental theorem of asset pricing. Mean-variance analysis.
H. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, WW Norton and co. New York, III edition.
Programma
Part 1: Consumer and production theory1.1 Consumer theory: Classical demand theory (budget constraint, preferences, utility, consumption demand, indirect utility, expenditure function, welfare evaluation, equivalent and compensating variation, axioms of revealed preferences).
1.2 Production theory: Production sets. Profit maximization and cost minimization. The geometry of costs.
Part 2: Choice under uncertainty
2.1 Theory: Lotteries. Preferences over lotteries. Expected Utility Theory (EUT). Money lotteries and risk aversion. Comparison of payoff distributions in terms of returns and risk. Subjective probabilities. Some criticisms to EUT.
2.2 Applications: insurance and portfolio choice.
Part 3: Aggregation
3.1 Demand aggregation.
3.2 Supply aggregation.
3.3 On the existence of a "representative agent".
Part 4: General competitive equilibrium and its welfare properties
4.1 Simple economies: the Edgworth box, 1 producer \& 1 consumer economy, 2X2 economy.
4.2 Pareto optimality and social welfare optima: feasibility, Pareto optimal problem, welfare function, Pareto frontier.
Part 5: Possible additional topics
5.1 The positive theory of equilibrium Existence, uniqueness.
5.2 Competitive equilibrium under uncertainty: Markets for contingent commodities. Arrow-Debreu equilibrium. Markets for assets and insurance policies. Back to welfare properties of competitive equilibria. Sequential trade and incomplete markets.
5.3 Basic principles of financial economics: The fundamental theorem of asset pricing. Mean-variance analysis.
Testi Adottati
A. Mas-Colell, M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, 1995H. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, WW Norton and co. New York, III edition.
Modalità Erogazione
Class lecturesModalità Frequenza
Three weakly lectures during the academic semesterModalità Valutazione
Final, written exam to be taken in class (closed-book)