The course examines how individuals and firms make decisions by weighing up costs and benefits, and how the interaction of their decisions leads to market and social outcomes. The model of market supply and demand is employed to examine the effects of taxes, subsidies, and other government interventions in market activity. The implications of different market structures, including perfect competition and monopoly, are examined.  Public goods, externalities and common resources are key examples of cases in which private markets may yield socially sub-optimal outcomes.  Such cases are examined and the role of government policy in correcting for these is discussed.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the economic principles underpinning modern economics;
2. demonstrate a basic understanding of the way budget constrained individuals make optimising choices and the way resources are allocated in private markets;
3. demonstrate an understanding of the role of different trading arrangements in markets and their impact on prices and the quantities traded;
4. use basic economic principles to evaluate the effects of government interventions and other exogenous changes in markets;
5. evaluate the effects of government interventions in markets;
6. present clearly written analysis of economic issues and problems

Research-Led Teaching

The material taught in this course is directly relevant to research in most, if not all, areas of economics.

Field Trips

Not applicable.

Additional Course Costs

You will need a computing device with a working web-camera that is capable of running both Zoom and Wattle for this course. The web-camera will only be required for the final exam.

Examination Material or equipment

Due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no "in person" examinations held by ANU in Semester Two of 2022. As such, the exam for this course will be administered online. Given this, there will be no restrictions imposed on the materials that may be used during the exam. The final exam will be invigilated over one of either Zoom or Microsoft Teams. As such, you will need to have a working web camera that is operational for the duration of the exam. You will also be required to hand-write your answers to the final exam. As such, you will need appropriate paper and writing instruments, along with either a Digital scanner or a phone or tablet with an appropriate scanning application. (ANU has some advice on how to use the "Microsoft Office Lens" application for the purpose of scanning hand-written assessment items for digital submission.)

Required Resources

The recommended references for this course are as follows.

• Alchian, AA, and WR Allen (2018), Universal economics, Edited by JL Jordan, Liberty Fund, USA.
• Landsburg, SE (2014), Price theory and applications (ninth edition), Cengage Learning, USA.

You are not required to purchase a copy of these references if you do not wish to do so. However, I strongly recommend that you have access to them during the semester. While the ANU library does not currently have either a digital copy or a physical copy of Alchian and Allen (2018), it has ordered a digital copy of this book. The ANU library has one digital copy, and three physical copies, of Landsburg (2014). I will request that all physical copies of Landsburg (2014) that are available in the ANU library system be placed on short loan for the duration of this course.

Recommended Resources

Other references that you might find useful during this course include the following.

• Bergstrom, TC, and HR Varian (2014), Workouts in intermediate microeconomics (ninth edition), WW Norton and Company, USA.
• Case, KE, RC Fair, and SE Oster (2017), Principles of microeconomics (twelfth edition) (Global edition), Pearson Education, Malaysia.
• Frank, RH (2006), Microeconomics and behavior (sixth edition), McGraw-Hill, USA.
• Friedman, DD (1990), Price theory: An intermediate text (second edition), South-Western Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
• Gans, J, S King, M Byford, and NG Mankiw (2018), Principles of microeconomics (seventh Asia-Pacific edition), Cengage Learning Australia, China.
• Heyne, PL, PJ Boettke, and DL Prychitko (2014), The economic way of thinking (thirteenth edition), Pearson Education, USA.
• Hirshleifer, J, A Glazer, and D Hirshleifer (2005), Price theory and applications: Decisions, markets, and information (seventh edition), Cambridge University Press, USA.
• Leftwich, RH (1960), The price system and resource allocation (revised edition), Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, USA.
• McCloskey, DN (1985), The applied theory of price (second edition), Macmillan Publishing, USA.
• Perloff, J, R Smith, and D Round (2014), Microeconomics (Australian edition), Pearson Education, Australia.
• Varian, HR (2014), Intermediate microeconomics: A modern approach (ninth edition), WW Norton and Company, USA.

Books relevant to this class can be found in both the Chifley Library (which houses most of the ANU Library’s economics collection), the Hancock Library (which houses some of the ANU Library’s economics collection and most of the ANU Library’s mathematics collection), and the Law Library (which houses some of the ANU Library's economics collection). I strongly encourage you to familiarise yourself with, and make use of the resources contained in, each of these branches of the ANU Library.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Graded tutorial assignments,
• Marks from, and general comments on, the timed online assignments, and
• Verbal feedback upon request during consultation sessions.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

Work-Load Expectations

The amount of work required for successful completion of this class may vary between students. As a rough guide, students should expect to devote at least 10 hours a week to this class. This should include all of the following.

• Three hours a week for lectures.
• One hour a week for tutorials (except for week one).
• At least six hours a week for reading, research, writing, lecture preparation, tutorial preparation, and revision.

Required Equipment

• You will need an appropriate computing device and good access to the internet for this course. The computing device should be capable of running Zoom and accessing the Wattle site for this course simultaneously.

Teaching Arrangements

Lectures

Lectures in this course will be "live" events that are held on the ANU campus in Canberra. Recordings of the lectures will be made using the ECHO360 system and posted to the ECHO360 site for this course. This ECHO360 site will be accessible via a link from the Wattle site for this course. Please note that the lecture recordings might well be an imperfect substitute for attendance at the lectures.(The lecture recordings are simply direct recordings of the actual lectures that are being given in person. They are not separately recorded lectures.) I strongly encourage you to attend the in-person on campus lectures if you are able to do so.

Tutorials

Beginning in week two, there will be a weekly tutorial held in this course. Tutorials in this course will be "live" events. Some of them will be held in-person on the ANU campus in Canberra. In order to facilitate remote participation, at least one tutorial will be held over Zoom. Please note that the tutorials will not be recorded.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Administrative Arrangements. An Introduction to Microeconomics.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 1. Core Reading. Class Summary. Administrivia Lecture Notes. Course Wattle Site. Introduction to Microeconomics Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); The Foreword, and Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 13. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 2 and 19.
2	Purchasing Behaviour, Marginal Benefit, and Demand.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 2. Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 1.1, 2, 3, and 4.
3	Selling Behaviour, Marginal Cost, and Supply.	Assessment: Tutorial Assignment 1 due (worth 2 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 7, 14, 15, 16, and 18. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 1.2, 5, 6, and 7.
4	Partial Equilibrium Economic Models 1: The Marshallian Cross Model of a Perfectly Competitive Market.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 4. Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 17. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 1.3 and 8.
5	Partial Equilibrium Economic Models 2: A Model of a Perfectly Competitive Industry.	Assessment. Tutorial Assignment 2 due (worth 2 %). Timed Online Assignment 1 held (worth 15 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
6	Market Successes and Market Failures. Risk, Uncertainty, and Time.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 6. Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 13, 19, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 42. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, and 18.
7	Strategic Interaction: An Introduction to Game Theory.	Assessment: Tutorial Assignment 3 due (worth 2 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Landsburg (2014); Chapter 12.
8	Externalities, Public Goods, and Common Property Resources.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 8. Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 13 and 17. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 13 and 14.
9	Imperfect Competition 1: Monopoly and Monopsony.	Assessment: Tutorial Assignment 4 due (worth 2 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, and 26. Landsburg (2014); Chapter 10.
10	Imperfect Competition 2: Oligopoly and Oligopsony.	Assessment: No assessment items in Week 10. Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, and 26. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 11 and 12.
11	Asymmetric Information and Incomplete Information.	Assessment: Tutorial Assignment 5 due (worth 2 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 20, 22, 23, 25, 28, 34, and 35. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 9 and 18.2.
12	Input Markets and Income Inequality (if time permits).	Assessment: Timed Online Assignment 2 held (worth 15 %). Core Reading. Relevant Lecture Notes. Alchian and Allen (2018); Chapters 27, 28, 29, 38, 39, 40, and 41. Landsburg (2014); Chapters 15 and 16.
13	Final Exam Period.

Tutorial Registration

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage. https://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/timetabling].

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Fortnightly Tutorial Assignments.	10 %	08/08/2022	15/08/2022	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Timed Online Assignment 1.	15 %	25/08/2022	26/08/2022	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Timed Online Assignment 2.	15 %	27/10/2022	28/10/2022	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Final Exam	60 %	03/11/2022	02/12/2022	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

• You will not be assessed on either attendance or participation in this course. Nonetheless, both attendance and active participation might well enhance your enjoyment of the course and your understanding of the material covered in the course.
• Lectures in this course will be live events that are held on the ANU campus in Canberra. Recordings of lectures will be made using the ECHO360 system and posted to the ECHO360 site for this course. Please note that the lecture recordings might well be an imperfect substitute for attendance at the lectures. I strongly encourage you to attend the in-person on campus lectures if you are able to do so.
• Tutorials in this course will be "live" events. Some of them will be held in-person on the ANU campus in Canberra. In order to facilitate remote participation, at least one tutorial will be held over Zoom. Please note that the tutorials will not be recorded.

Examination(s)

Please see the information for assessment task 4 above.

Assessment Task 1

Fortnightly Tutorial Assignments.

• You are requested to submit answers to all of the "tutorial questions" (but not any "additional practice questions") that are assigned for teaching week 3 (tutorial 2), teaching week 5 (tutorial 4), teaching week 7 (tutorial 6), teaching week 9 (tutorial 8), and teaching week 11 (tutorial 10).
• Each of these assignments should be submitted online through the "Turnitin" link on the Wattle site for this class. A scanned copy of your handwritten assignment is fine. You are not required to type up your answers. However, in order for your assignment to be marked, it must be legible to the grader. If it is not legible, then a mark of zero will be awarded.
• Each assignment should be submitted by 8:00 am on the Monday at the beginning of the week in which the relevant tutorials are held (that, in teaching weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11), unless that Monday is a public holiday in Canberra. If the Monday is a public holiday in Canberra, then the assignment should be submitted by 8:00 am on the first regular business day thereafter.
• If you have trouble submitting your assignment through the turnitin link, then please email a copy of that assignment to the course email address (ECON7073@anu.edu.au). Any such email must be received no later than 08:00:00 am on the day that the assignment is due in order for your assignment to be marked.
• You will typically receive the questions for each assignment at least half a week before it is due.
• No late submissions will be accepted. Any assignments that are not submitted by the due date and time will receive a mark of zero.
• In each of these assignments, one question will be chosen for assessment and your mark for that assignment will be based on your response to that question. The identity of the selected question will only be revealed upon release of the marked assignments.
• Each of these five tutorial assignments will be worth 2 % of your raw overall mark for this course. This means that this assessment component is worth 10 % of your raw overall mark for this course.
• We will endeavour to release comments and marks for these assignments via "Turnitin" by 5:00 pm on Mondays in Teaching Weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 (that is, in the week after they are submitted).
• Each tutorial assignment will be allocated a non-negative integer mark out of four. A mark of four will be awarded to very good answers for the selected question. These are "high distinction" level answers. A mark of three will be awarded to good, but not very good, answers for the selected question. These are either "distinction" or "upper-end credit" level answers. A mark of two will be awarded to alright, but not good, answers for the selected question. These are either "lower-end credit" or "pass" level answers. A mark of one will be awarded to poor answers for the selected question. These are "fail" level answers. A mark of zero will only be awarded if no answer is submitted for the selected question.
• All learning outcomes are relevant for this assessment task.

Assessment Task 2

Timed Online Assignment 1.

• This will be a one-hour long timed assignment that is administered online through the Wattle site for the course.
• It will consist of some number of questions. The questions might be of the multiple choice, true or false (or possibly true or false or ambiguous), or single numeric answer variety, or some mixture of these question varieties.
• The assignment will become available at precisely 7:00:00 pm Canberra time on Thursday 25 August 2022. You will be able to submit your answers from this point in time until precisely 8:00:00 pm Canberra time on Thursday 25 August 2022.
• No late submissions will be accepted. Any assignments that are not submitted by the due date and time will receive a mark of zero.
• This timed online assignment will be worth 15 % of your raw overall mark for this course.
• You should attempt the questions in the order that you encounter them, as you will not be able to return to questions (that is, navigate backwards) on this assignment.
• This assessment item will potentially include material from the first four weeks of lectures, the first three tutorials, and all associated readings.
• All learning outcomes are relevant for this assessment task.
• We will endeavour to release marks and some general feedback for this assessment item via the Wattle link for this assessment item by 5:00:00 pm Canberra time on Friday 26 August 2022.

Assessment Task 3

Timed Online Assignment 2.

• This will be a one-hour long timed assignment that is administered online through the Wattle site for the course.
• It will consist of some number of questions. The questions might be of the multiple choice, true or false (or possibly true or false or ambiguous), or single numeric answer variety, or some mixture of these question varieties.
• The assignment will become available at precisely 7:00:00 pm Canberra time on Thursday 27 October 2022. You will be able to submit your answers from this point in time until precisely 8:00:00 pm Canberra time on Thursday 27 October 2022.
• No late submissions will be accepted. Any assignments that are not submitted by the due date and time will receive a mark of zero.
• This timed online assignment will be worth 15 % of your raw overall mark for this course.
• You should attempt the questions in the order that you encounter them, as you will not be able to return to questions (that is, navigate backwards) on this assignment.
• This assessment item will potentially include material from the first eleven weeks of lectures, all eleven tutorials, and all associated readings.
• All learning outcomes are relevant for this assessment task.
• We will endeavour to release marks and some general feedback for this assessment item via the Wattle link for this assessment item by 5:00:00 pm Canberra time on Friday 28 October 2022.

Assessment Task 4

Final Exam

• As ANU is still facilitating remote participation in courses in Semester Two of 2022, due to the ongoing complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the final exam will be implemented online through a combination of the Wattle site for the course and Zoom.
• The date and time of the final exam will be determined by the central administration of the ANU. It will occur sometime during the official final exam period. It will involve a three hours and forty-five minute exam period in total. This will consist of fifteen minutes of reading time, three hours of writing time, and thirty minutes for scanning, compilation, and submission.
• No writing will be permitted during the reading time.
• No writing will be permitted during the "scanning, compilation, and submission" time.
• There will be no restriction on permitted materials for this exam.
• The exam will be invigilated over Zoom. You will be required to have a working web-camera that is turned on during the duration of the total exam period (including reading time; writing time; and scanning, compilation, and submission time). Both your work area and yourself will need to be in view during this time.
• Your exam must be neatly hand-written. It must not be typed.
• The exam will be comprehensive, in the sense that questions can potentially be drawn from any component of this class. This includes any material that is covered in lectures, or covered in tutorials (including both tutorial questions and additional practice questions), or covered in assigned readings, or covered in some combination of these sources.
• The final exam is worth 60 % of your overall mark for this class.
• You will be able to request a breakdown of your mark for the final exam by question (and by each part of each question) after the official release of results for the semester.
• All learning outcomes are relevant for this assessment task.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

No submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date and time will be permitted in this course. If an assessment task is not submitted by the due date and time, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Please refer to the information on this that was provided above in the discussion of the various assessment tasks. 

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

No resubmission of any assignment after the due date and time for its submission will be permitted in this class.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students