Curricular Unit:			Code:
Microeconomics			777MIC
Year:	Level:	Course:	Credits:
2	Undergraduate	Political Science and International Relations	6 ects
Learning Period:		Language of Instruction:	Total Hours:
		Portuguese/English	78
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
To understand the principles of microeconomics underlying the individual behaviour of consumers and companies, as well as their market interaction, within different market structures. To understand the mechanism of prices as a market regulator. To know the consumer theory and the production and costs theory. To understand microeconomic analysis in different market structures. Skills: acquisition of specific knowledge in microeconomics; problem solving; application of knowledge to different contexts; adaptation to new situations; autonomy.
Syllabus:
PC0. ECONOMY. MICROECONOMICS versus Macroeconomics Scarcity; Choice; Asset/Resource; Opportunity cost; Consumption/Need; Production; Microeconomic approach. PC1. SUPPLY, DEMAND AND HOW MARKETS WORK: The market forces of Supply and Demand, Elasticity and its Applications; Government Policies; Welfare Analysis. PC2. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: Preferences, Budget Constraint, Consumer’s Choice. PC3. FIRM BEHAVIOR: Production and Costs; Market Structures (Perfect competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly)
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
PCO. It allows to understand the main concepts and objectives of economics and differentiate between the micro approach and the macroeconomic approach. PC1. Allows understanding how perfect competition markets work, by analysing the impact of changes in supply/demand; the relationship between supply and demand price elasticities and market equilibrium; the impact on the market resulting from state intervention. PC2. Allows understanding consumers’ decision-making by examining how consumers decide what quantities of various commodities to consume, stemming from the relation between consumer preferences and indifference curves and the budget constraint. PC3. It allows understanding the economic decision-making of producers in different market structures, through the interpretation and relationship between product/ total/average/marginal cost in short and long periods.
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
The course resorts to theoretical presentations, conceptual clarification, calculus and graphical analysis. Lessons combine theory and practice, and case-study scenarios are analysed. Assessment is based on two interim tests (50% + 50%) or a final exam.
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
The combination of theoretical presentations and problem solving tasks enables students to acquire specific theoretic knowledge in microeconomics as well as to practice its application to specific case-scenarios.
Reading:
[1] Krugman, P. e Wells, R. (2021). Economics. 6th editio. Macmillan learning. [2] Mankiw, N. G. (2021). Princípios de Microeconomia. 2ª Edição. Rei Livros. [3] Mankiw, N. G. (2017). Principles of Economics. 8th edition. Cengage Learning. [4] Mankiw, N. G. (2008). Introdução à Economia. São Paulo: Cengage Learning. [5] Mankiw, N. G. (1999). Introdução à Economia. Princípios de Micro e Macroeconomia. Rio de Janeiro: Campus. [6] Nabais, C. e Ferreira, R. (2011). Microeconomia - Lições e Exercícios. Lisboa: Lidel Edições Técnicas. [7] Pinho, Micaela. (2019). Microeconomia - Teoria e Prática Simplificada, 4ª Ed. Lisboa: Edições Sílabo. [8] Samuelson, P. A. and Nordhaus. W. (2012). Economia, 19ª edição. London: McGraw-Hill.