This course gives a broad coverage of the central areas of modern microeconomic theory. It deepens the coverage of the areas covered in the undergraduate course ECON 301, in particular introducing the use of nonlinear programming and some basic convex analysis. The course is designed to introduce students to some central themes and results in graduate microeconomic theory. The chosen topics are also important for understanding many applied fields, such as labour economics, industrial organisation, international trade and public economics. It is important that students will have a preparation in microeconomic theory and the mathematics used there at the advanced undergraduate level. Students should have a thorough grasp of the mathematics of constrained optimisation (Lagrange's method), some probability theory and some basic linear algebra.
Each week there are assigned recordings for students to watch and a set of exercises that should be attempted prior to class meetings where students can ask for further explanation and will be expected to contribute to discussion of the recorded material and the exercises. Exercises are to be handed in at the first class of the week and will be graded on a 0, 1, 2, 3 scale. (3: all exercises attempted and mostly right, 2: most exercises attempted and many right, 1: less than that, 0: exercises not submitted that week.) Marks will be available promptly but exercises will not be returned. Students should keep a copy of their answers and be ready to present answers in class and participate in class room discussion of the exercises.