ECON 201: Intermediate Microeconomics

Professor Vladyslav Nora

Spring 2022

E-mail: vladyslav.nora@nu.edu.kz
Class hours: Tuesday, Thursday, 1.30 pm - 2.45 pm (in Zoom)
Office Hours: Write me an email to set up an appointment in Zoom
TA: Dinara Yessimova, dinara.yessimova@nu.edu.kz

Course description
Simply and broadly, microeconomic theory is concerned with studying why people, firms, gov-
ernments etc (we call all of them “agents”) do what they do. Modern approach to this task is not
much different from the one, say, theoretical physicists use to understand nature. We describe the
agents’ behavior using the precise language – mathematics. These descriptions, called “models”,
explain or predict the behavior of agents. Economic models are always simplified descriptions
of reality. But even being very simplistic, a good economic model can still provide interesting
insights into the real life. The purpose of the intermediate microeconomics is to introduce the
mathematical language and basic economic models.
In this course, we will mainly deal with one particular model, that of a simple and famil-
iar competitive market where goods are bought and sold at some prices. Starting from basic
descriptions of what consumers want and what they can do, we will derive a market demand
curve. Similarly, we will show how basic technological constraints of firms along with their profit
maximizing behavior lead to a market supply curve. Taken together, demand and supply deter-
mine equilibrium level of prices and production. Then we will take a look at the consequences of
departures from the central assumptions of this model: competitiveness and complete informa-
tion. We will use tools from game theory to model markets with few firms, and situations where
agents must take decisions in without all the relevant information.

Learning objectives

• Be able to solve exercises in the required textbook.

• Know key concepts, techniques, and results on the level of the required textbooks.

• Be able to explain social phenomena with basic economic models.

Textbook
The main text is Varian, Hal R. Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. However,
the mathematical level of this book is lower than the level of our lectures. Therefore it is impor-
tant for you to closely follow lectures that will contain additional material often not available in
the textbook. There may be some additional reading assigned during the semester.

How to study in this class

The following should be your study algorithm.

1. Before each class: read the corresponding chapter in the textbook. You may not understand
everything, but you should be familiar with the main concepts.

2. Zoom class: take notes and ask questions. During the class I will mainly explain how to
solve problems. I will assume that you have familiarized yourself with the theory reading
the textbook. So, by the time of our Zoom session you should at least know the basic
concepts and definitions. If you did not understand something from the book, then this is
also the time to ask your questions.

3. After the class: solve practice problems, start solving a corresponding home assignment,
post your questions to a forum on Moodle.

The important part of this course is solving many problems on your own. There are several
sources of problems (with solutions) that you can use to practice. It is important that you try
solving problems yourself before reading the solutions.

1. Problem sets are the main source of problems. There will be around 5 problem sets in this
course.

2. Varian Workouts. These are very basic exercises from the textbook. You must be able to
comfortably solve all of these.

3. Principles of Microeconomics course at MIT contains solved problem sets and exams. The
structure is similar to our course, while the level is somewhat lower. Solve problems in the
corresponding chapters.

Evaluation
The evaluation is based upon the following parts. Quizzes and exams will take place in Moodle
in real time.

2
 • Regular submission of solutions to problem sets. Problem sets are graded on the
pass/fail scale. You get pass grade if you have demonstrated effort in trying to solve most
of the problems and carefully writing down your solutions. If I decide that your problem
set does not meet this minimal criteria, then I give you fail. You get fail grade also if you
did not submit a PS on time. If you fail more than two problem sets, then you are not
admitted to the final exam and fail the entire course. All problem sets must be submitted
through Moodle. In case you expect not to be able to submit a problem set on time due
to illness or other valid reasons, please email us in advance.

• Quizzes and other assignments (30%). There will be 2 quizzes.

• Midterm (30%). Covers the first half of the course.

• Final (40%). Covers the entire course.

All assignments are given the adjusted scores which are later combined to obtain the total score.
The course grade is obtained by averaging the adjusted scores for individual assignments using
the above weights. The curving of the total score will approximately follow the target: grades in
the A range (ie.’A’, ’A-’) will be given to top performing 15-20% of the students, while grades
of ’F’ will be given to no more than bottom 10% of students.

Attendance
This course is taught online. The exams and quizzes are all conducted through Moodle. In case
you have to miss an exam and have an official excuse, the weight of the exam will be distributed
among the future assignments. Attendance of Zoom meetings is strongly encouraged.

Misconduct and academic integrity

Academic and personal misconduct by any student in this course will be dealt with according
to the requirements and procedures in the Student Code of Conduct of Nazarbayev University.
Each case of plagiarism or cheating on any of the assignments automatically leads to a fail grade
for the assignment and further disciplinary action. A violation of the exam rules specified on
Moodle or orally before the exam will automatically lead to Fail grade for the exam.

Prerequisites
Please refresh on your own the notions of basic set theory (unions, intersections, complements and
products of sets; De Morgan’s laws), basic calculus (derivatives and integrals; double integrals;
Fundamental theorem of calculus; definitions of exponential; sum of geometric series; Taylor
series); basic proof techniques (contradiction, induction). To test yourself, sit down and find at
least two proofs that the sum of first n odd numbers is equal to n2 .

Students with disabilities

If you have any requests that would improve your ability to succeed in this course, email me at
the start of the semester and I will do what I can to make reasonable accommodations.