Microeconomics

ECO10002 12.5 Credit Points Hawthorn, Online, Sarawak

Duration

  • One teaching period

Contact hours

  • 36 Hours

On-campus unit delivery combines face-to-face and digital learning. For Online unit delivery, learning is conducted exclusively online.

Aims and objectives

The aim of the unit is to provide students with an introduction to how consumers and producers interact within markets, through the price mechanism, to allocate scarce resources. Economic models of perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly (game theory) and monopolistic competition are developed. These are used to analyse the interaction between consumers and producers to determine price, output, profit and efficiency implications of market characteristics such as barriers to entry, number of buyers and sellers in the market, and types of products sold.
 
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  • Identify the methodology used in economics
  • Describe the nature of the economic problem, and the facilitating role of markets
  • Describe why firms charge the prices and produce the quantities that they do; and what the industrial characteristics are that determine this
  • Match variations in pricing and output behaviour with variations in industry structure and competitiveness
  • Identify when firms are efficient and when they are not, and why
  • Describe the situations in which market forces fail to allocate resources in a socially optimal manner (such as in the case of pollution and climate change); and indicate ways that government might be able to remedy market failure
  • Evaluate and communicate solutions demonstrating an understanding of the economic, social and environment factors impacting on the problem
  • Critically evaluate the application of economic principles to current situations

Courses with unit

A core unit in the Bachelor of Business suite