EC301: Advanced Microeconomics

Module code: EC301

Module provider: Economics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Steven Bosworth, email: s.j.bosworth@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module builds on the methods developed in EC201 Intermediate Microeconomics and EC220 Intermediate Economic Theory to study advanced topics in microeconomic theory, including decision under uncertainty, incomplete markets, labour economics, credit, insurance, and various markets with asymmetric information, mechanism design, and richer theories of the firm.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Abstract when trying to explain (model) economic events.
2. Recognise the existence of equilibria in economic phenomena and solve abstract models pertaining to that.
3. Apply these models to novel economic events to evaluate their external validity. 

Module content

The module will cover:

• Information: Contracts, Norms, and Power
• Work, wages, and unemployment
• Interest, credit, and wealth constraints
• Risk and risk-sharing institutions
• Markets as revealers of information; Coaseian bargaining and transactions costs
• Inequality and the ownership of capital
• Mechanism design and getting the rules right

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures will develop all the main material. Tutorials will cover exercise material designed to facilitate understanding of lecture topics. Office hours will be available for students to consult the lecturer on an individual basis.

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs