2021 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Economics B
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Yukihide Kurakawa
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-10 Fri (W935)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.S209
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course provides a broad introduction to microeconomics mainly focusing on welfare analysis and its applications. The aim of this course is to understand how the basic theories of micro economics can be applied to real-life issues and policy designs.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Understand basics of welfare analysis and its applications.
2) Consider and explain real-life issues using basic theories of economics.
Keywords
Welfare analysis, Positive and negative externalities, Public goods, Monopoly, Oligopoly,
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Course materials are provided during class. Some exercises will be given in each topic.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction |
An outline of this course is given. |
| Class 2 | Supply and demand, market equilibrium |
Understand supply curve and demand curve, marginal cost and marginal benefit. |
| Class 3 | Basics of welfare analysis |
Understand consumer surplus, producer surplus, and social surplus. |
| Class 4 | Externality |
Understand (negative) externality and welfare loss its generates. |
| Class 5 | Government intervention (1) |
Understand the effects of tax, subsidy and regulation. |
| Class 6 | Government intervention (2) |
Understand policy effects under uncertainty. Try some exercises. |
| Class 7 | Elasticity and its applications - Rebound effects and tax incidence |
Understand price elasticity and its applications. Try some exercises. |
| Class 8 | Coase's theorem |
Understand conditions under which bargaining will lead to social optimum. |
| Class 9 | Emissions trading scheme |
Try some exercises. |
| Class 10 | Public goods |
Understand the definition of public good and its optimal provision. |
| Class 11 | Prisoners’ dilemma and tragedy of the commons (1) |
Understand Prisoner's dilemma and the definition of Nash equilibrium. |
| Class 12 | Prisoners’ dilemma and tragedy of the commons (2) |
Try some exercises. |
| Class 13 | Congestion and externality |
Try some exercises. |
| Class 14 | Advanced topics |
Try some easy exercises in information economics, law and economics. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Hiromichi Kandori (2014). Micro Economics. (Japanese)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Reaction papers (30%)
Quizzes, problem sets and reports (70%)
Related courses
- Econ A
- Econ C
Prerequisites
No prerequisites.