Ateneo - UPO

The course provides a first introduction to microeconomics, with a focus on public-policy analysis and sustainable-development challenges.

The theoretical core covers scarcity, opportunity cost, incentives, and trade-offs; demand, supply, and equilibrium; price elasticity; surplus, efficiency, equity, taxes, subsidies, and incidence; externalities and the distinction between private and social costs and benefits. Corrective instruments for externalities – taxes, subsidies, standards, and tradable permits – and the concepts of public goods, common-pool resources, free riding, and collective action are introduced at a definitional and intuitive level, without technical detail.

The models are applied to climate, energy, pollution, and natural-resource problems. Short cases, data, and institutional sources are used as formative activities to test students’ ability to interpret real-world problems and formulate policy recommendations.

Main textbook

Frank, R. H., Bernanke, B. S., Antonovics, K., Heffetz, O. (2024), Principles of Microeconomics, 2024 Release, McGraw Hill. ISBN 9781265399672.

The chapters and sections required for the course will be specified on the Moodle platform.

Recommended supplementary textbook

Field, B. C., Field, M. K. (2024), Environmental Economics: An Introduction, 2024 Release, McGraw Hill, selected chapters. ISBN 9781266543067.

Additional materials

Slides, exercises, short readings, cases, data, and open-access resources, including selected CORE Econ units. Updated materials and links to institutional sources, including the United Nations, OECD, World Bank, and European Commission, will also be made available on Moodle.

The course aims to provide students with solid introductory microeconomic literacy and an essential method for analysing public-policy and sustainability problems.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. understand scarcity, opportunity cost, incentives, marginal analysis, and trade-offs;

2. use the core models of demand, supply, equilibrium, elasticity, surplus, and externalities;

3. distinguish private from social outcomes and recognise the rationale for public intervention;

4. interpret corrective taxes, subsidies, standards, tradable permits, public goods, and common-pool resources at an intuitive level;

5. compare simple policy alternatives in terms of incentives, efficiency, equity, distributional effects, and feasibility;

6. apply the economic toolkit to sustainable-development cases and translate the analysis into a clear, well-supported recommendation, including through a concise policy memo.

No specific prerequisites. The course is designed as a first introductory course in microeconomics. The required graphs and analytical tools will be introduced progressively.

The course is delivered in blended mode and includes 4 ECTS of asynchronous activities, 1 ECTS of synchronous online activities, and 1 ECTS of in-person activities.

Asynchronous activities – 4 ECTS

The asynchronous component presents the theory through short, progressive video lectures organised into a limited number of modules. The course design clearly distinguishes between:

- core models to be understood and used;
- definitional and intuitive links;
- applications and cases.

Explanations alternate with guided exercises, graph construction and interpretation, examples, self-assessment quizzes, and e-tivities.

Synchronous online activities – 1 ECTS

As a general rule, each thematic unit is followed by an online session of approximately one hour, devoted to a structured recap, clarification of questions, discussion of errors emerging from online activities, and a guided exercise or short application.

In-person activities – 1 ECTS

In-person sessions emphasise active learning through case analysis and discussion, integrated exercises, collaborative activities, and policy labs. Cases and examples do not introduce additional theoretical blocks; they are used to test students’ ability to apply the models and to prepare the policy memo.

Formative activities and a formative mid-term assessment may be offered during the course for consolidation and feedback.

Regular participation in synchronous and in-person activities is strongly recommended. Materials, schedules, announcements, cases, and practical instructions will be published on the course Moodle platform.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (DSA), or Special Educational Needs (BES) may request dedicated services and support tools by contacting the University’s Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti and consulting the relevant University webpage:

https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities

After contacting the relevant University staff, students may contact the course instructor to discuss the implementation of the approved measures in relation to teaching and examination arrangements.

Assessment is based on an individual written examination graded on a thirty-point scale.

The examination includes quizzes and short graph-based and conceptual exercises concerning the core models covered in the course:

- demand, supply, and equilibrium;
- price elasticity;
- surplus, taxes, subsidies, and incidence;
- externalities.

The examination may also require students to recognise and interpret public-policy instruments, public goods, and common-pool resources at a definitional and intuitive level, or to apply the concepts studied to a short concrete situation.

Assessment will consider:

- knowledge and understanding of the concepts;
- the ability to read and use graphs correctly;
- the ability to identify the relevant economic problem;
- the ability to apply the appropriate model;
- the ability to interpret the public-policy implications;
- the clarity and coherence of the reasoning.

The written examination grade constitutes the basis of the final grade. Students who pass the written examination with a grade of at least 18/30 may receive a maximum engagement bonus of 3 points for regular and documented participation and involvement in the course learning activities.

The bonus is awarded according to the following criteria:

- up to 1.5 points for completing at least 75% of the asynchronous self-assessment quizzes and e-tivities identified for bonus purposes and achieving the related minimum thresholds;
- up to 1.5 points for participating in at least 70% of the synchronous and in-person activities, as recorded through short polls, exercises, case-related questions, collaborative activities, or exit tickets.

The activities are recorded through the course platform and do not require the submission of essays, projects, or additional individual assignments.

The bonus is applied only after the written examination has been passed, cannot reduce the grade, and may be awarded up to a maximum final grade of 30/30. Where the resulting score includes a fraction of 0.5, the final grade is rounded up to the next whole number. Honours are not awarded automatically on the basis of the bonus and are reserved for written examinations of an outstanding standard.

Practical instructions, completion thresholds, participation-recording procedures, and the activity schedule will be published on Moodle at the beginning of the course.

The minimum passing grade is 18/30.

1. Thinking like an economist – basic concepts

Scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, incentives, and trade-offs. Essential distinction between positive and normative analysis and cross-cutting use of efficiency and equity.

2. Demand, supply, and equilibrium – core model

Individual and market curves, movements along curves and shifts, determination of equilibrium, and comparative statics. Construction and interpretation of graphs. Simple applications to energy, essential goods, and sustainable products.

3. Elasticity – essential model

Price elasticity of demand and supply, main determinants, and interpretation. Links with behavioural responses to policies and tax incidence. Other forms of elasticity may be mentioned only at an intuitive level.

4. Welfare and public intervention – core model

Consumer and producer surplus, total surplus, efficiency, and a basic graphical interpretation of deadweight loss. Taxes, subsidies, incidence, and distributional effects.

5. Externalities – core model

Positive and negative externalities; private and social costs and benefits; market equilibrium and the socially efficient quantity; overproduction and underproduction. Applications to pollution, climate, and investment generating external benefits.

6. Policy responses to externalities – definitional and intuitive links

Corrective or Pigouvian taxes, subsidies, standards, and tradable permits. Essential operation and basic comparison in terms of incentives, efficiency, equity, distributional effects, and feasibility. Carbon pricing and emissions trading are used as examples, without technical or institutional detail.

7. Public goods, common-pool resources, and collective action – definitional and intuitive links

Essential characteristics of public goods and common-pool resources; free riding, overuse, and collective-action problems. Selected applications to climate and natural-resource management.

8. Policy analysis and sustainable development – application of the toolkit

Integrated use of the concepts to diagnose a problem, identify incentives and possible divergences between private and social outcomes, compare interventions, and assess efficiency, equity, distributional effects, and feasibility. Introduction to reading short technical notes and writing a policy memo.

Cases, data, and examples concerning climate, energy, pollution, and natural resources will be provided as supplementary and formative activities to test understanding and application of the models, without expanding the compulsory theoretical core.

By the end of the course, students will have achieved the following learning outcomes.

Knowledge and understanding
Describe the main concepts of introductory microeconomics, explain how markets operate, and understand the economic rationale for public intervention in the presence of externalities, public goods, and common-pool resources.

Applying knowledge and understanding
Use simple models and graphs to analyse demand, supply, equilibrium, elasticity, surplus, incidence, and externalities, and apply these tools to short public-policy and sustainability cases.

Making judgements
Identify incentives and trade-offs, distinguish private from social costs and benefits, and compare simple policy alternatives in terms of efficiency, equity, distributional effects, and feasibility.

Communication skills
Present economic reasoning clearly, interpret essential graphs and data, and formulate a clear, well-supported written recommendation through a concise policy memo.

Learning skills
Independently use teaching materials, self-assessment activities, data, and institutional sources to consolidate knowledge and explore economic and sustainable-development problems.