KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & MINERALS

KFUPM BUSINESS SCHOOL

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
SECOND SEMESTER (221)

ECON 101: Principles of Microeconomics

Instructor’s Name: Dr. Abdullah Almeer Email: [email protected]

Office Location: B24 office 254 Phone:
Class Time/Classroom: (Section 1 (M03): UT 12-30 PM – 13:45 PM / Building 24 – room 250)
Office Hours: U 14-00 PM – 15:00 PM and by appointment.

Course Description: Provides the fundamentals of microeconomics. It introduces the roles of the market price system in
managing the use of society’s resources and in rationing available supplies. The efficiency of resource management is
examined in the light of a variety of more or less competitive market environments. Topics include consumer behavior,
consumer and market demand, concepts of elasticity, cost, production and factor pricing in perfect and imperfect
competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, regulation and economic policy, economic efficiency and
productivity, social costs and benefits, and public goods and externalities.

Pre-requisite: High-school level algebra

Course Outcomes: By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Determine how markets allocate resources.
2. Describe the maximization of utility in relation to consumer and household choices.
3. Analyze the cost of production for a firm.
4. Compare a firm’s behavior in various markets.
5. Describe the role of government in markets, regulations and economic policy.
6. Describe Public goods and externalities.

Required Textbook:
Economics
By Michael Parkin
(Global Edition). 13th Edition.
Pearson; 2019.
The book is available in the University bookstore. You need to open an account to access free
online resources associated with the textbook.

Other Online Textbook Resources: https://learninglink.oup.com/students

Grading Scheme: 100%

Homework Assignments 5%
Quizzes 10%
Major Exam I 20%
Major Exam II 25%
Comprehensive Final Exam 35%
Class Participation 5%

Lecture Schedule (Subject to Change):

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 Week Part Chapter Topics Assessment
Course Briefing
1. Definition of Economics.
2. Two Big Economic Questions.
3. The Economic Way of Thinking
Chapter 1: 4. Economics as Social Science and Policy Tool.
What is
Week Economics? Students must Self-Study and refer to the
1 to 2 Appendix to review graphs and mathematics
1.
Introduction used in the course.
(Aug. 28 to
Sep. 8)
1. Production Possibilities and Opportunity Cost.
Chapter 2:
2. Using Resources Efficiently.
The
3. Gains from Trade. HW1 & Quiz1
Economic
4. Economic Growth.
Problem
5. Economic Coordination.

1. Market and Prices.

2. Demand.
Chapter 3: 3. Supply.
Demand 4. Market Equilibrium.
and Supply 5. Predicting Changes in Price and Quantity.

Students must Self-Study Mathematical Note.

1. Price Elasticity of Demand.

Chapter 4:
Week 2. More Elasticities of Demand. HW2
Elasticity
3 to 6 2. How 3. Elasticity of Supply.
Markets
(Sep. 11 to Work 1. Resource Allocation Methods.
Oct. 6) Chapter 5:
2. Benefits, Cost, and Surplus.
Efficiency
3. Is the Competitive Market Efficient?
and Equity
4. Is the Competitive Market Fair?

1. A Housing Market with a Rent Ceiling.

Chapter 6:
2. A Labor Market with a Minimum Wage.
Government
3. Taxes. HW3 & Quiz2
Actions in
4. Production Quotas and Subsidies.
Markets
5. Market for Illegal Goods.

Major Exam I

1. Consumption Choices.
Chapter 8:
2. Utility-Maximizing Choice.
Utility and
Week 3. Predictions of Marginal Utility Theory.
Demand
7 to 8 3. 4. New Ways of Explaining Consumer Choice.
Household's
(Oct. 9 to Choices Chapter 9:
Oct. 20) 1. Consumption Possibilities.
Possibilities,
2. Preferences and Indifference Curves. HW4 & Quiz3
Preferences,
3. Predicting Consumer Choices.
and Choice

Week Part Chapter Topics Assessment

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 1. The Firm and Its Economic Problem.
Chapter 10: 2. Technological and Economic Efficiency.
Organizing 3. Information and Organization.
Production 4. Markets and the Competitive Environment.
5. Produce or Outsource? Firms and Markets.

1. Decision Time Frames.

Chapter 11:
2. Short-Run Technology Constraint.
Output and HW5
3. Short-Run Cost.
Costs
4. Long-Run Cost.

1. What is Perfect Competition?

2. The Firm's Output Decision.
Chapter 12: 3. Output, Price, and Profit in the Short Run.
Week Perfect 4. Output, Price, and Profit in the Long Run.
9 to 13 Competition 5. Changes in Demand and Supply as
4. Firms and Technology Advances.
Markets 6. Competition and Efficiency.
(Oct. 23 to
Nov. 24)
1. Monopoly and How it Arises.
2. A Single-Price Monopoly's Output and Price
Decision.
Chapter 13:
3. A Single-Price Monopoly and Competition HW6 & Quiz4
Monopoly
Compared.
4. Price Discrimination.
5. Monopoly Regulation.
Chapter 14: 1. What is Monopolistic Competition?
Monopolistic 2. Price and Output in Monopolistic Competition.
Competition 3. Product Development and Marketing.

1. What is Oligopoly?
Chapter 15: 2. Oligopoly Games.
HW7 & Quiz5
Oligopoly 3. Repeated Games and Sequential Games,
4. Antitrust Law.

Major Exam II
Midterm Break Nov. 27 to Dec. 1
Chapter 16:
Public
1. Public Choices.
Choices,
2. Providing Public Goods.
Public
Week 14 to 3. The Economics of Healthcare.
Goods, and
15 5. Market Healthcare
Failure and
(Dec. 4 to Government 1. Externalities in Our Lives.
Dec. 15) 2. Negative Externality: Pollution.
Chapter 17:
3. Negative Externality: The Tragedy of the
Externalities
Commons.
4. Positive Externality: Knowledge.

Comprehensive Final Exam

Examinations:
 There will be two major exams, and a comprehensive final exam.

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  The exams will be closed book and closed notes. They will cover materials from textbook chapters, lectures and issues
discussed in the class.
 PowerPoint slides or notes provided by the instructor are not sufficient. Students should read the textbook chapters
thoroughly and solve end of chapter problems independently to be well prepared for the exams.
 There will be no make-up exams for students who miss the exams.

Quizzes:
 There will be 5 in-class quizzes.
 Quizzes may be given anytime during the class hours, and it is the responsibility of the student to be on time.
 There will be no make-up quizzes for student who miss the quizzes.

Homework:
 Homework will be assigned on Pearson MyLab (via Blackboard) unless stated otherwise by the instructor.
 Students should follow the steps in this video to register and login to MyLab.
 Late submission will not be accepted.

Class Participation:
 The points are divided between regular physical attendance and active particpation in the classroom activities.
 Students who physically attend all the classess on time will be given half the points, and the remaining points are reserved for
active class participation. An active student is one who is not disruptive, focused on learning, meaning takes notes, ask
questions, answer questions, participate in discussions, etc. Instrctors will solely judge the quality of participation.
 Because it is important that you attend this course regularly, a quarter point (0.25) will be deducted for each unexcused
absense.

Communication:
 Each student should only communicate with her/his own instructor and follow their instructor’s instructons carefully.
 In email communication with your instructor, please state clearly which class and which section you belong to.
 Instructor will use the University email and the bb system (i.e. Announcement, etc.) for communication with the students. It
is the students’ responsibility to check their email and visit the Blackboard site regularly for any announcement / information
etc. from the instructor. Please note that I did not receive any notification is not a valid excuse for anything.

Important University / Class Polices:

 Attendance will be taken regularly anytime during the class hours. You must stay in the class from the beginning to the end
of the class to be marked as physically present.
 Only officially issued excuses will be accepted in case of absence.
 In accordance with University rules, six (6) unexcused absences will automatically result in a grade of DN.
 University plagiarism policy will be applied to any written work submitted by students.
 Students should always refer to the Undergraduate Bulletin regarding University policies on the above items and other
policies. The link for the handbook is: https://registrar.kfupm.edu.sa/
 It is the students’ responsibility to read the prescribed chapters of the textbook before coming to classes.
 Students are encouraged to write their own lecture notes in class and ask questions.
 Any activity that disturb the class, such as the use of mobile phones, talking during lectures, etc. is strictly prohibited.
 Any dispute with exams, quizzes, homework, etc. must be resolved with the instructor within 3 days from the date of the
announcement of the results in the bb system. Because of the time constraint, any dispute with the final exam grade must be
resolved with the instructor by the next day following the announcement of the final exam grade in the bb system. It is the
students’ responsibility to know when these grades are posted. This policy ensures that all disputes are taken care of as they
occur and nothing is left for the last minute which can cause inconvenience to both students, instructor and the class in
general. This policy also ensures that the instructor will be able to post the final grades quickly on time at the end of the
semester.

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