BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani

Pilani Campus
AUGS/ AGSR Division

SECOND SEMESTER 2023-24

COURSE HANDOUT
Date: 09.01.2024
In addition to part I (General Handout for all courses appended to the Timetable), this portion gives
further specific details regarding the course.

COURSE NO. : ECON F211

COURSE TITLE : PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
INSTRUCTOR-IN-CHARGE : DEBI PRASAD BAL
INSTRUCTOR : Geetilaxmi Mohapatra
INSTRUCTOR : Rahul Arora
INSTRUCTOR : Balakrushna Padhi
TUTORIAL INSTRUCTORS : Section specific – to be announced in the Time Table

1. Course Description
This is a foundation course for students entering the discipline of Economics and finance. This
introductory course teaches the basic concepts related to the economic system that are listed as
follows: Introduction to Economics (Microeconomics) & Economic Problems; Demand, Supply, &
Elasticity; Household Behavior and Consumer Choice; The Production Process; Costs and Output
Decisions; Demand for Production Inputs; Market Imperfections: Monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic
Competition; Introduction to Macroeconomics and the Problems; Measurement of National Income &
Output; Money Supply and the Banking System; Externalities, Public Goods and Taxation.

2. Scope and Objective of the Course

The main objective is to introduce the fundamental concepts and tools necessary to acquire an
understanding of the economic decision-making of market participants such as Individual households,
firms, and the government. The course covers two major areas of economics, namely Microeconomics
and Macroeconomics. Knowledge of the fundamentals would help the students better understand the
entire economic system and the process followed in policy making. This course would lay the
foundation for the students to understand other related courses in economics & finance, such as
Mathematical Economics, International Economics, and Advance Micro and Macroeconomics, among
others.

3. Text Book
• TB: Case, K.E., Fair, R.C., & Oster, S.E., “Principles of Economics”, Pearson Education
Limited, 12th Edition, 2019.

4. Reference Books
• R1: Samuelson, P. A. & Nordhaus, W. D., “Economics”, Tata McGraw-Hill, 19th Edition,
2007.
• R2: Lipsey, R. G. & Chrystal, K. A., “Economics”, Oxford University Press, 11th Edition,
2007.
• R3: Mankiw, N.G. “Principles of Economics”, South Western/Cengage Learning India, 6th
Edition, 2012.

1
 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani
Pilani Campus
AUGS/ AGSR Division

5. Course Plan
Reference
Module Lecture/Tutorial Learning outcome
Material*
L1.1: Course Orientation & Subject
Introduction Chapters: 1
1. Introduction to
L1.1-2: Understanding 10 major and 2 [TB]
Economics & Economic
Principles of Economics
Problems
L1.3-4: Scarcity, choice, and Chapters: 1 Basic understanding of
(Lectures: 1-5)
opportunity cost [RB-3] Economics as a subject;
L1.5: Production possibility frontier detailing of course contents,
2. Demand, Supply, & L2.1-2: Demand & Supply Concepts their significance; average
Chapters: 3
Elasticity L2.3: Market equilibrium consumer behavior in various
and 5 [TB]
(Lectures: 6-10) L2.4-5: Elasticity of Demand market situations
L3.1: Budget constraint and its role
3. Household Behavior and
L3.2-3: Concept of utility including Chapters: 6
Consumer Choice
DMU [TB]
(Lectures: 11-14)
L3.4: Income and Substitution effects
L4.1-2: Behavior of profit-
maximizing firm in the short and long
4. The Production Process Chapters: 7
run
(Lectures: 15-17) [TB]
L4.3: Production process and
production function
L5.1: Types of costs in the Short-run Understanding of the
L5.2: Perfect competition, TR & MR production process from the
5. Costs and Output
L5.3: Profit Maximization in Perfect Chapters: 8 & producer’s side, cost of
Decisions
Competition 9 [TB] inputs, and their supply
(Lectures: 18-22)
L5.4-5: Long Run costs and output
decision
6. Demand for Production L6.1-2: Labor & Capital Markets-
Chapters: 10
Inputs Capital, Investment, and Depreciation
& 11 [TB]
(Lectures: 23-24)
L7.1: Market Imperfections: An
Chapter: 13
7. Market Imperfections: Introduction and Price & Output
[TB]
Monopoly Decisions is pure Monopoly
and Class
(Lectures: 25-27) L7.2: Social Costs of Monopoly
Notes
L7.5: Price Discrimination
8. Market Imperfections: Understanding of various
L8.1: Price & Output Determination Chapter: 15
Monopolistic Competition market structure and
in Monopolistic Competition [TB]
(Lectures: 28) producer behavior in each
L9.1: Oligopolistic Market Structure market
Chapter: 14
and various models
9. Market Imperfections: [TB] and
L9.2-3: Strategic Interaction: Game
Oligopoly Class Notes
Theory - I
(Lectures: 29-32) on Game
L9.4: Strategic Interaction: Game
Theory
Theory-II
L10.1-Externalities-Marginal social
10. Externalities, public Understand the market failure
cost & marginal cost pricing Chapter: 16,
goods & common associated with externalities
L10.2-Public Goods [TB] and
resources (Lectures: 33- & the characteristics and
Class Notes
35) provisioning of public goods.

2
 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani
Pilani Campus
AUGS/ AGSR Division

11. Introduction to
L11.1: Introduction to Chapter: 20
Macroeconomics and the
Macroeconomics and various [TB] and
Problems
concerns Class Notes
(Lectures: 36)
Understanding the basics of
12. Measurement of L12.1-2: GDP: Meaning, concepts, Chapter: 21
National Income accounting,
National Income & Output and measurement [TB] and
the role of money, and related
(Lectures: 37-38) L12.3: Nominal vs. Real GDP Class Notes
concepts
L13.1: Supply of Money & Its
13. Money Supply and the Chapter: 25
Measurement
Banking System [TB] and
L13.2-3: Monetary Policy of RBI &
(Lectures: 39-40) Class Notes
Credit Creation
L14.1: Taxation Chapter: 19 Understanding the basics of
14. Public Finance
114.2: Excess Burdens and the [TB] and public finance and related
(Lectures: 40-41)
Principle of Neutrality Class Notes concepts

6. Evaluation Scheme: The evaluation platform will be notified well in advance

Max Duration Max. Marks Nature of
Component Weightage Tentative Dates*
In Minutes (Out of 300) Component
Quiz 1 30 10 % 30 2nd February, 2024 CB
Quiz 2 30 10 % 30 1st March, 2024 CB
Mid-Sem 90 30 % 90 13th March, 2024 CB
Quiz 3 30 10 % 30 6th April, 2024 CB
Quiz 4 30 10 % 30 27th April, 2024 CB
Comprehensive
180 40 % 120 11th May, 2024 CB/OB
Exam
Note: * Dates are tentative and subject to change as per the circumstances

7. Consultation Hour:
Tuesday- 04.00 PM - 5.00 PM (In respective instructors’ chamber).

8. Notices
For course-related announcements, please check your email regularly. All the information will also be
communicated during the class.

9. Make-up Policy
Make-up for the Mid-Sem and Comprehensive examinations shall be granted only in genuine cases
(such as hospitalization) after a thorough application examination. The conduct of make-up is to be
decided by the instructor-in-charge/instructors only. No make-up shall be granted for the Quiz tests; out
of four quiz tests (4 quizzes), the best 3 will be considered for the final evaluation.

10. Note
Evaluative components will be conducted during scheduled hours as specified. Changes, if any, will
be communicated well in advance. Please quote your ID number and name before requesting anything
related to the course. Students must write correct ID numbers, in all the evaluative components, failing
which their answer sheets will not be evaluated.
Instructor-in-charge
ECON F211