EC201: Intermediate Microeconomics

Microeconomics aims to understand the behaviour of individuals and firms to interpret how they make decisions given the scarcity of resources. This is especially important for individuals, both in business and government, who have to allocate resources considering a range of factors including labour, supply and demand, economic utility, pricing and productivity.

This course aims to give students the conceptual basis and the necessary tools for understanding modern microeconomics at an intermediate level. During the course you will learn about the application of consumer theory, the theory of the firm, general equilibrium and welfare, game theory, oligopolistic markets and information economics. By applying these theoretical frameworks you will tackle important questions such as how firms respond to market stimuli, both in the short and the long run, as well as how game theory can be used to study strategic interactions between decision makers.

This highly interactive course allows you to apply the content through active class discussion, class-based exercises, and feedback from faculty and peers. By the end of the course, you will understand how microeconomics is applied to real-world problems, helping you develop a microeconomic mindset when thinking about issues that are relevant in practice, and for policy.

Prerequisites: Introductory microeconomics (to the equivalent of EC101) and differential calculus.
Partial differential calculus will be reviewed on the first day and students will be introduced to the techniques of constrained maximisation, such as Lagrangian procedures, which will be used throughout this course.

Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees: Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment: Two written examinations

Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

This course is suitable if you already have a strong foundation in microeconomics and differential calculus. The course aims to deepen your understanding of modern microeconomics, providing you with the tools and frameworks to apply the theory to real-world problems. It is especially recommended if you wish to develop a microeconomic mindset when thinking about issues that are relevant in practice and for policy development.

• Analyse how individual demand functions can be aggregated to build the market demand curve
• Understand the structure of production and how this impacts profit maximisation problems of the firm
• Identify how equilibrium prices and quantities are determined and the conditions in which market equilibrium is efficient
• Use game theory to study strategic interactions between agents and its use as a tool in modern economics
• Analyse the optimal design of contracts to provide incentives and elicit information from different parties

The design of this course is guided by LSE faculty, as well as industry experts, who will share their experience and in-depth knowledge with you throughout the course.