Microeconomics (MSc Economics)

News

  • The optional exam inspection will take place jointly for both exam dates. Exact time and procedure will be announced at a later date.
  • Some information on the exam that was given in the last lecture:
    • You do not need a calculator in the exam.
    • If you really want to bring a calculator to hold onto, you can do so but your calculator must (i) not be graphical (no function plotting etc.), (ii) not be able to solve equations or systems of equations with unknown variables (e.g. if you can input 3*x+9=5, then you cannot use the calculator), (iii) not be able to store text, (iv) not be able to determine integrals. This implies that many calculators listed on the website of the WiSo examination office are not allowed.
    • The exam consists of 2 or 3 exercises (which each may have 1-3 subquestions). Not finishing all exercises within 60 minutes is an option that should not scare you.
  • I do not use ILIAS because I prefer openly accessible material and dislike parts of the terms of service. All material for this course is available on this website.
  • exam dates: Jan 30, 2025, 14:30 (room: 105 Hörsaal A1 105/01/1.02) and March 19, 2025, 9:00 (room: 100 Aula 2 100/01/Aula 2); registration via KLIPS

Course setup

Lecture: Thursdays, 14:00-15:30 (101 Hörsaal XXIII 101/EG/17)

Exercise session: Wednesdays, 12:00-13:30 (HS XXX)

Prerequisites: You are expected to know basic game theory (normal form games, dominant strategies, Nash equilibrium, game trees, subgame perfect Nash equilibrium) and microeconomics at Bachelor level (preferences, indifference curves, utility functions, consumer problem, Pareto efficiency). The schedule contains detailed prerequisites for each lecture in terms of economics and mathematics.

Material

All materials are now also available on sciebo. (password announced in lecture)

  • slides (might still be edited)
    • social choice pdf
    • markets pdf
    • choice under uncertainty pdf
    • Bayesian Nash equilibrium pdf
    • auctions pdf
    • adverse selection pdf
    • perfect Bayesian equilibrium pdf
    • signaling pdf
  • exercises pdf
  • lecture notes via sciebo (password announced in lecture)
  • old additional notes pdf
  • schedule org pdf
  • old exam

Textbooks

The provided lecture notes cover all but the first two weeks. The material of those weeks is, for example, covered in (Jehle and Reny (2011)). On auctions, Paul Klemperer's book (Klemperer (2004)) is an interesting (optional!) read but goes far beyond the material covered in this course.

Bibliography

Jehle, G. A., and P. J. Reny. (2011): Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Pearson Education Limited.
Klemperer, P. (2004): Auctions: Theory and Practice, Princeton University Press.

Disclaimer