About this course: All goods and services are subject to scarcity at some level. Scarcity means that society must develop some allocation mechanism – rules to determine who gets what. Over recorded history, these allocation rules were usually command based – the king or the emperor would decide. In contemporary times, most countries have turned to market based allocation systems. In markets, prices act as rationing devices, encouraging or discouraging production and encouraging or discouraging consumption in such a way as to find an equilibrium allocation of resources. We will construct demand curves to capture consumer behavior and supply curves to capture producer behavior. The resulting equilibrium price “rations” the scarce commodity. Markets are frequent targets of government intervention. This intervention can be direct control of prices or it could be indirect price pressure through the imposition of taxes or subsidies. Both forms of intervention are impacted by elasticity of demand. After this course, you will be able to: • Describe consumer behavior as captured by the demand curve. • Describe producer behavior as captured by the supply curve. • Explain equilibrium in a market. • Explain the impact of taxes and price controls on market equilibrium. • Explain elasticity of demand. • Describe cost theory and how firms optimize given the constraints of their own costs and an exogenously given price. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
Taught by: Larry DeBrock, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign College of Business Department of Business Administration
| Basic Info | Course 1 of 7 in the Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Specialization |
| Commitment | 4 weeks, 3-5 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Video: Welcome to Firm Level Economics: Consumer and Producer Behavior!
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: About the Discussion Forums
- Reading: Glossary
- Practice Quiz: Orientation Quiz
- Reading: Updating Your Profile
- Discussion Prompt: Getting to Know Your Classmates
- Reading: Social Media
- Reading: Module 1 Overview
- Reading: Module 1 Readings
- Video: 1-1.1. Scarcity and its Implications
- Video: 1-1.2. Opportunity Costs
- Video: 1-1.3. Demand Curves
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 1-2.1. More on the Demand Curve
- Video: 1-2.2. Movements Along vs. Shifts in the Demand Curve
- Video: 1-2.3. Constructing the Supply Curve
- Video: 1-2.4. Movements to New Equilibrium
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-2 Practice Quiz
- Reading: Module 1 Peer Review Explanation
- Reading: Module 2 Overview
- Reading: Module 2 Readings
- Video: 2-1.1. Setting Dairy Prices
- Video: 2-1.2. Government Intervention
- Video: 2-1.3. Direct Price Controls: Price Floors
- Video: 2-1.4. Direct Price Controls: Price Ceilings
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-2.1. The Price You Pay at the Pump
- Video: 2-2.2. Excise Taxes
- Video: 2-2.3. The Incidence of Taxation
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-2 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-3.1. Higher Tuition Yet More College Applications
- Video: 2-3.2. Responsiveness of Quantity Demanded and Elasticity
- Video: 2-3.3. Elasticity Along a Linear Demand
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-3 Practice Quiz
- Reading: Module 2 Peer Review Explanation
- Reading: Module 3 Overview
- Reading: Module 3 Readings
- Video: 3-1.1. An Economist's Production Function
- Video: 3-1.2. Types of Firms
- Video: 3-1.3. Behavior Rule
- Video: 3-1.4. Behavior Rule – Part 2
- Video: 3-1.5. Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 3-2.1. Cost Curves
- Video: 3-2.2. Derive Short Run Total Cost Family of Curves
- Video: 3-2.3. Derive Short Run Average Cost Family of Curves
- Video: 3-2.4. Derive and Depict Short Run Marginal Costs
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-2 Practice Quiz
- Reading: Module 3 Peer Review Explanation
- Reading: Module 4 Overview
- Reading: Module 4 Readings
- Video: 4-1.1. Firm Optimization Behavior
- Video: 4-1.2. Maximizing Profit
- Video: 4-1.3 Maximizing Profit Graphically
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 4-2.1. Showing Points on a Graph
- Video: 4-2.2. Profits After Total Cost Changes
- Video: 4-2.3. Short Run Shutdown Decisions
- Video: 4-2.4. Graphing Shutdown Conditions
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-2 Practice Quiz
- Reading: Module 4 Peer Review Explanation
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A good introduction of microeconomics, but I feel that the content of this course leans towards the theoretical and it didn't have any depth on the various topics (this is coming from someone who studied engineering and took some courses on finance and accounting). I must applaud Prof. Larry DeBrock to be a great lecturer. His enthusiasm and use of real world examples (even if they lacked depth) captured my attention throughout the course.
Excellent course and very well explained every basic economic concept with real examples.
Thanks a lot Professor for allowing me to audit this course, wishing you a great success ahead!!
Excellent professor.
Content well structured, videos, slides, quizz, assignments.
Support material and recommended reading also well structured.
Congratulations!
I was addicted until finishing in <2weeks!
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I like the teacher, compare with the teachers in china, he has more infectious. I learn lots from this course