Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
PGDM (RM) – 42 (2021-23)
Academic Year 2021-22
Term I
Title of the Course: Microeconomics Credit: 3
Name of the Faculty: Vivek Pandey
Email ID: [email protected] Contact No.: 629
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Study of Microeconomics serves as foundation to courses offered in the
discipline of Finance, Marketing, and Social Sciences at IRMA. It is a core course in the PRM program. A
good grasp of microeconomics is vital to develop nuanced understanding of managerial decision-making,
for designing and implementing public policies & development interventions, and more generally for
appreciating how a modern economy functions. The course concentrates on those aspects of
microeconomic theory which are now regularly used in trying to solve real world problems.
The course endeavors to blend standard topics in traditional microeconomic theory with recent
developments in the field of management and development. We begin by considering the behavior of
consumers, and then apply utility theory to prices. Next we examine the producer, and the properties of
competitive and other market forms, mainly for products and later in the course for factors of production.
Finally we turn to choice and decision making under risk and uncertainty.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: The objective of the course is to help students
1. Comprehend the basic principles of microeconomic theory
2. Identify analytical linkages between the Microeconomics and managerial decision-
making
LEARNING OUTCOME: On completion of the course students are expected to be able to d evelop
conceptual microeconomic models and frameworks to analyze the impact of business and public
policy decisions on economic agents that includes firms, households, and other societal
organizations
COURSE REQUISITES: <NIL>
PEDAGOGY / TEACHING METHODOLOGY: Black-board teaching and class discussion
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EVALUATION:
Component *Weightage %
Class Participation 0
Quiz (announced) 30
Individual Assignment 0
Group Assignment 0
Take Home Assignment 0
Research Article 0
Review/Discussion
Any Other Component 0
Mid Term 35
End Term 35
TOTAL 100
*No single component should have a weightage of more than 50 percent of evaluation in a 1.5-
credit course and more than 35 percent in a 3-credit course.
DETAILS/INSTRUCTIONS FOR EVALUATION: <NIL>
TEXT BOOKS: <write NIL, if none, do not delete>
William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A South-Asian Perspective”,
1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
ADDITIONAL BOOKS / READINGS: NIL
<Author A, Author B (YYYY)> <“Name of Texbook”>, <xth Edition>, <Name of Publisher>,
<pp XXX-XXX>.
<Author A, Author B (YYYY)> <“Name of Texbook”>, <xth Edition>, <Name of Publisher>,
<pp XXX-XXX>.
SCHEDULE OF SESSIONS:
Module I: Introduction to Microeconomics
Session 1-2: Fundamental Principles of Economics
Objective: Concepts of marginal, opportunity cost, comparative advantage, gains from trade, missing
markets & market failure
Reading(s)
Chapters 1-3, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A South-Asian
Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Session 3: Mathematic concepts for Microeconomics
Objective: Concept of slope, geometry of derivatives, curvature (convex and concave) and optimization.
Module II: Consumer Behavior
Module Objective: Utility analysis, indifference curves, budget line, marginal utility and law of demand,
substitution and income effect, market supply, market equilibrium
Sessions 4-7: Consumer Choice
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Readings
Chapters 4 and 6, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A
South-Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Session 8: Elasticity of demand
Readings
Chapters 5, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A South-
Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Module III: Production and Cost Concepts and Firm Behavior
Module Objective: Productions & cost decisions in short & long run
Sessions 9-13: Production and Cost functions and technological functions
Readings
Chapters 7, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A South-
Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Module IV: Market Structure, Efficiency and Regulation
Module Objective: Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition & Oligopoly
Sessions 14-19: Market structure, firm behavior, and welfare outcomes
Readings
Chapters 9-11, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A
South-Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Sessions 9-11: Market structure, firm behavior, and welfare outcomes
Readings
Chapters 9-11, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A
South-Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
Module V: Microeconomic foundations of Public Policy
Module Objective: Effects of government interventions (price controls), externalities and public goods
Session 20: Microeconomic foundations of Public Policy
Readings
Chapters 17-19, William A. McEachern, Simrit Kaur (2016), “Principles of Microeconomics: A
South-Asian Perspective”, 1st Edition, Cengage Learning.
IMPORTANT GUIDELINES:
The material in this class will be continuously building upon the concepts that have already been
introduced. If you miss a step while checking email, texts, etc, during class, you’ll be lost for the rest of
the lecture. To reduce the risk of this happening, please power down cell phones and laptops. To help
keep everyone engaged I will regularly cold-call on students at random, with a higher probability for
those appearing distracted, sleepy or confused.
Is the class moving too slowly/quickly? Do you feel like you know less upon leaving a lecture than when
you walked in? Please let me know! Options include: after class, during office hours, or by email. If you
have a course related question, odds are that other students are wondering the same thing: post your
question through an email before the class starts, preferably in the morning hours, so that it may be
answered once for everyone. Options do not include: phone, text message, whatsapp, facebook, twitter,
etc.
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If, however, you do send an email, please remember that you are an educated adult enrolled in a
professional school. This should go without saying, so I apologize if the following guidelines come across
as patronizing to those who would never dream of committing such abominations in any correspondence,
let alone the professional type. Emails that abide by these guidelines will receive replies considered
prompt by academic standards, which is somewhere between business prompt and government prompt.
● The letters b, c, r, u, k, and y may occasionally stand in for numbers, but they are not words. Not ever.
Similarly, the numbers 2 and 4 are not prepositions.
● Apostrophes are not decorative, and complete sentences are not optional. Their omission reflects a lack
of awareness of these facts.
● “lol,” “totes,” and their ilk are also not words that convey anything but an inferior intellect.
● The same goes for emoticons. They are like daggers in my soul. Use your words.
● Stringing words together that do not belong (i.e. “awesomesauce”) can be quite distressing to your
reader, as he or she will naturally fear that you are suffering from stroke induced aphasia, or similar
traumatic brain injury. A call for an ambulance would not be an overreaction.
Please note that cheating on quizzes and examinations is next to being criminal and will attract a straight
‘F’ on that component, and in addition the extant PRM guidelines will be strictly followed.
PARTICIPANTS ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Students will be responsible for all the discussions and material covered in the class. Given the applied
nature of the course, it is expected from them that they seek to learn the applications of classroom
presentation by the instructor to real life settings and engage with the discipline conducive with the level
of a graduate-level coursework.
HOW DOES THIS COURSE IS RELEVANT TO IRMA’S MISSION:
The course will prepare students to interact with a variety of economic agents in the rural setting
including the farmer, the seller, the creditor, mother of the child, leader of Gram Panchayat and others. It
is expected that such interactions can be conducted in a structured setting so that students are able to
design interventions (both in the product market and in the development space) based on principles of
mechanism design and appropriate incentives.
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