ECON 310: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

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Spring 2025 Syllabus

Table of Contents

Quick Syllabus

Professor

  • Dr. Edward Kung
  • edward.kung@csun.edu

Lectures

  • Section 01: TuTh 10:00am - 11:15am @ Bookstein 1123
  • Section 02: TuTh 1:00pm - 2:15pm @ Bookstein 1123

Office Hours

  • TuTh 11:20am - 12:20pm @ Bookstein 4252

Course Organization

This course meets for 2.5 hours a week, in-person. Attendance is checked and required.

Grading

  • Attendance (10%)

    Attendance in this class will be checked. Everyone starts with full credit (10 pts). You can miss two classes for any reason, without penalty. Every subsequent absence will deduct 1 pt from your attendance score, to a minimum of zero.

  • Professionalism (10%)

    I am generally very lenient and flexible with students who are showing effort. However, if you act unprofessionally, I will not hesitate to call you out on it. Examples of unprofessional behavior include: repeated tardiness, lazy effort on assignments, not paying attention in class, and leaving the class early without notifying me beforehand. Everyone starts with full credit for professionalism (10 pts), but points may be deducted for unprofessional behavior.

  • Homework Assignments (25%)

    Weekly homework assignments will generally consist of a problem set, to be submitted in a greenbook or on stapled sheets of paper. Students can elect to work in groups of up to 3 on homework assignments. If you work in a group, your group only has to make one submission for the whole group. For each problem set, only a randomly selected set of questions will be graded.

  • Writing Assignments (15%)

    There will occassionally be a writing assignment, usually consisting of a short essay of about 500-800 words. These assignments must be completed on Packback, an online platform for AI-assisted writing assignments.

  • Midterm Exams (20%)

    There will be two midterm exams, each worth 10% of your grade. These will be multiple choice, in-person exams.

  • Final Exam (20%)

    The final exam will be worth 20% of your grade. It will be a multiple choice, in-person exam.

  • Grading Scale

    A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F
    100-93 92-90 89-87 86-83 82-80 79-77 76-73 72-70 69-60 59-0

    Your scores will be rounded up to the nearest integer. Depending on the performance of the class, a curve may or may not be applied before assigning letter grades.

Tentative Schedule

Week Dates Session 1 Session 2
1 1/21, 1/23 Introduction Econ Review
2 1/28, 1/30 Math Review Single Variable Optimization
3 2/4, 2/6 A Model of Commodity Markets A Model of Labor Markets
4 2/11, 2/13 A General Equilibrium Model Application: Productivity Shocks
5 2/18, 2/20 Discussion Session Review
6 2/25, 2/27 Midterm 1 Discussion Session
7 3/4, 3/6 Multivariate Optimization Constrained Multivariate Optimization
8 3/11, 3/13 Theory of Consumer Choice Consumer Choice: Applications
9 3/18, 3/20 NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK
10 3/25, 3/27 Labor/Leisure Choice Theory of Production
11 4/1, 4/3 Discussion Session Review
12 4/8, 4/10 Midterm 2 Discussion Session
13 4/15, 4/17 Game Theory I Game Theory II
14 4/22, 4/24 Monopolies Imperfect Competition
15 4/29, 5/1 Risk and Insurance Saving and Borrowing
16 5/6, 5/8 Discussion Session Review

Final Exam:

  • TBD

Course Description

Prerequisites

Econ 160; Grade of C or better in MATH 103, MATH 150A, or MATH 255A; Completion of the lower division writing requirement.

Course Overview

This is an intermediate level undergraduate course in microeconomic theory. You will learn about the operation of the price system in market-oriented economies. Special emphasis is placed on the mathematical modeling of consumer behavior, business behavior, market organization, production and cost, and economic welfare. You will apply the economic concepts you learn to current issues through a variety of writing assignments.

Course Learning Outcomes

By successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

  • Write down models of supply and demand and use them to explain the functioning of the price system in competitive markets.
  • Use models of consumer and firm behavior to assess the impacts of economic policies, price changes, and technological changes.
  • Write down models of imperfectly competitive markets and use them to explain the impact of market power on economic welfare.
  • Understand the role of risk, uncertainty, and time preference in the functioning of markets.

Course Materials

Course Website

All of the required lecture materials are available for free and contained on this website.

Packback (Required)

The writing assignments in this course must be completed via Packback, using the link provided in Canvas. You should automatically be subscribed through MyCSUNDigitalAccess. If for some reason you opted out or are unsubscribed, you will need to pay for a subscription.

Textbook (Optional)

This course is self contained based on my own materials. If you are interested in delving deeper into the subject matter, Intermediate Microeconomics and its Applications by Nicholson and Snyder can serve as a helpful reference. However, I won’t be assigning any readings or problems from the textbook.

Calculator (Required)

You will need a calculator for this course. Any calculator is fine.

Scantrons (Form 882, Required)

You will need these for exams. You can use off brand, but they need to be compatible with Scantron Form 882.

Exam Policies and Information

Exams will be given in person, on paper. All exams are open book. You can bring any physical materials, including printed notes and workbooks. However, you are not allowed to use any electronic devices except a calculator.

Additional Course Policies and Resources

Communications Policy

My preferred form of communication is in-person after class or at office hours, or by email. If you email me and I do not respond within 24 hours, do not hesitate to re-send the email. Sometimes emails get lost in the shuffle.

Late and Missing Assignment Policy

Requests for absences, extensions, or late submissions must be submitted by email with accompanying documentation. Only unanticipated family and medical emergencies, or other extraordinary events, will be considered valid reasons. Events that could have reasonably been anticipated, such as heavy academic workload, busy work schedule, or friends’ birthday parties, will not be accepted as valid reasons.

AI Policy

You are allowed to use AI in homework assignments to help refine your writing and your thinking. You are not allowed to copy and paste text or code directly from an AI generator.

If I suspect your work of being copy-pasted from AI, and if that is also corroborated through an AI detection tool, you will receive a reduced grade. You will receive the reduced grade even if you did not actually use AI. This is because “writing too much like AI” is itself a weakness. For example, if your cover letter on a job application looks like it was written by AI, the recruiter may think you are too lazy or disinterested to write the letter yourself.

If you are concerned about the possibility that you write too much like AI, you can run your own work through an AI detector first.

Academic Integrity

By taking this course, you certify that all work is your own. Plagiarism is not allowed, and you are not allowed to have someone else do any course work in your place unless explicitly allowed by the syllabus. If it is discovered that you have violated academic integrity on any assignment, you will receive a grade of zero for that assignment. Repeated violations of academic integrity may result in a failing grade for the entire course.

Minimum Attempt Policy

You must at least attempt to answer every question on an assignment. If you skip a question without attempting an answer, you may receive a grade of zero for the entire assignment.

Why do I have a minimum attempt policy? Because demonstrating effort is important, especially in the workplace. Not even attempting a task is worse than attempting it and getting it wrong. I want to encourage all students to at least make an attempt at all tasks. As Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Special Needs

If you have a disability or need special accommodations, please register with the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office or the National Center of Deafness (NCOD). If you would like to discuss your need for accommodations with me, please contact me to set up an appointment.

Special consideration may be given to students with caregiving responsibilities at home (children, disabled family members, etc.). Please get in touch with me if you need an extension and have caregiving responsibilities.

Emergency Food and Shelter

If you are experiencing an emergency need for food or shelter, do not hesitate to utilize the resources available to you on campus. More information: https://www.csun.edu/heart.

University Counseling Services

If you have need for counseling regarding any personal or academic issues, do not hesitate to reach out to the University’s counseling services. More information: https://www.csun.edu/counseling/students.

Tutoring Services

Tutoring services may be available for this course. Please contact the Economics Department for information: https://www.csun.edu/economics.

Diversity Statement

It is my intent that students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives will be well served by this course, that students’ learning needs will be addressed both in and out of the classroom, and that the diversity students bring to the class will be viewed as a resource, strength, and benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities in a way that is respectful to students from all backgrounds, and that students from all backgrounds have an equal opportunity to succeed in the course. If you have any concerns, feel free to reach out to me.

All Other Policies

In general, the course follows all relevant CSUN policies and procedures as documented here: https://catalog.csun.edu/policies/alphabetical. Please pay special attention to the rules on attendance and academic dishonesty.