Principles of Microeconomics: study guide and practice
Also known as: econ 202, econ 2302, econ 2023, econ 102, econ 101 micro, eco 2023, principles of microeconomics, microeconomics, intro to microeconomics, micro econ, economics 2
What you will be able to do
- Use demand and supply to explain how prices and quantities are set
- Predict how shifts in demand or supply change equilibrium, and how price controls create shortages and surpluses
- Calculate and interpret price, income and cross-price elasticities
- Distinguish fixed, variable, average and marginal costs and use them to find profit
- Explain how firms behave in perfect competition
- Compare monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition with perfect competition
- Explain externalities, public goods and the policies used to address them
- Explain how wages and employment are determined in labour markets
Topics
- Demand and supplyHow buyers and sellers respond to price, and what moves the whole demand or supply curve.
- Equilibrium and price controlsFinding the market price, predicting shifts, and what price ceilings and floors do.
- ElasticityMeasuring how strongly quantity responds to price, income and other prices, and what it means for revenue.
- Production and costsFixed and variable costs, average and marginal cost, diminishing returns and profit.
- Perfect competitionPrice takers, the profit-maximising rule P = MC, shutdown decisions and long-run zero profit.
- Monopoly and imperfect competitionMarket power, monopoly pricing, deadweight loss and the in-between market structures.
- Externalities and public goodsWhen markets over- or under-produce because costs and benefits spill over, and how policy responds.
- Labour marketsLabour demand as marginal revenue product, wage differences, minimum wages and monopsony.