SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Course Syllabus

ECO200Y5Y – Microeconomic Theory

Department of Economics
University of Toronto Mississauga
Fall 2021 / Winter 2022

Contact Information
Instructor: W.H. Lee Bailey
Email: lee.bailey@utoronto.ca
Office: Kaneff Centre Room 3250
Voicemail: 905-569-4908
Office hours: Monday and Tuesday 08:00 to 09:00 a.m.

Our Teaching Assistants hold synchronous office hours during tutorial sessions and
asynchronous office hours on our Discussion Boards. Please

Website: https://q.utoronto.ca

All lecture times, tutorial times, exam times, deadlines, etc. are stated in local Toronto time.
Toronto adheres to Eastern Daylight time. It is your responsibility to correctly convert local
Toronto time to your time zone.

Set up your official Zoom account at https://utoronto.zoom.us Meeting Links are posted on
Quercus
Communication

1. Please use the Discussion Forums or visit Office Hours to ask questions about
economics.

2. Please use Professor Bailey’s email sparingly. Email is for things that cannot be
addressed during Office Hours or using the Discussion Forums. He answers email
during his office hours.

3. Please don’t use the Quercus Inbox Application. It is not monitored.

4. Please do not email our TAs.



SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Contact Hours

1. This is a hybrid course. We still follow the University of Toronto standard with 2 hours
per week of lectures and 1 hour per week of tutorial.

2. The first 1 of these 2 hours of lectures is to be delivered asynchronously using a series
of videos and video reviews that are posted on Quercus. You should do this before
class.

3. The second 1 hour into be delivered in the two-hour period which is listed as LEC on
your timetable.

4. Your 1 hour tutorial is to be delivered during the second half of the two-hour period
listed as LEC on your timetable.

5. The one-hour Monday 0800-0900 period that is listed as TUT on your timetable is for
Term Tests and for Professor Bailey’s Office Hours

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes

This is a course in microeconomic problem solving. Learners will develop the ability to
apply the concepts and procedures of microeconomic analysis to illustrate, quantify and
interpret the behavior of economic decision makers in a variety of contexts.

Sessions 1 to 12: Households

Outcome 1: Learners will develop the ability to apply the concept of optimal choice and
the procedures of microeconomic analysis to illustrate, quantify and interpret the
behavior of decision makers using a variety of utility functions across several models of
household behaviour.

The Concept of Optimal Choice

Decision-makers choose alternatives on the highest affordable indifference
curve

Procedures of Analysis will include but are not limited to

1. Indifference Curve Analysis
2. Demand Curve Analysis
3. Cost Benefit Analysis
4. Welfare Measures
5. Elasticity Analysis
6. Revealed Preference Analysis


SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Functional Specifications will include but are not limited to

1. Cobb-Douglas
2. Perfect Substitutes
3. Perfect Complements
4. Constant Elasticity of Substitution
5. Quasi-linear
6. Non-essentials
7. Concave
8. Quadratics
9. Economic Bads
10. Hybrids

Models of Household Behaviour will include but are not limited to

1. Commodity Demand
2. Housing
3. Taxes, Subsidies and Transfers
4. Endowments
5. Labour Supply
6. Time and Money Prices
7. Risky Assets
8. Saving and Borrowing
9. Human Capital
10. Contingent Consumption
11. Expected Utility
12. Mean-Variance Analysis
13. Auctions
14. Behavioral Economics
15. Public Goods

Sessions 13 to 24: Firms

Outcome 2: Learners will develop the ability to apply the concept of optimal choice and
the procedures of microeconomic analysis to illustrate, quantify and interpret the
behavior of decision makers using a variety of production functions while making the
distinction between short-run and long-run horizons and with due consideration of
market structure.

The Concept of Optimal Choice

Decision-makers maximize profit when inputs are hired so that the value of
marginal product is equal to marginal cost and when output is sold at levels
where marginal revenues are equal to marginal cost

Procedures of Analysis will include but are not limited to


SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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1. Short-run and Long-run Isoprofit Analysis
2. Short-run Cost Analysis
3. Short-run and Long-run Isoquant Analysis
4. Long-run Cost Analysis
5. Factor Demand Analysis
6. Cost Benefit Analysis
7. General Equilibrium Analysis
8. Game Theory Analysis

Functional Specifications will include but are not limited to

1. Cobb-Douglas
2. Perfect Substitutes
3. Perfect Complements
4. Constant Elasticity of Substitution
5. Quasi-linear
6. Quadratics
7. Cubics
8. Hybrids
9. Systems

Models of Market Structure will include but are not limited to

1. Perfect Competition
2. Single-price Monopoly
3. Price-discriminating Monopoly
4. Natural Monopoly
5. Monopsony
6. Monopolistic Competition
7. Cournot Oligopoly
8. Stackelberg Oligopoly
9. Bertrand Oligopoly
10. Models of Strategy
11. Models of Collusion
Prerequisites and Exclusions
The prerequisites and exclusions for this course can be found in the Academic Calendar.
Prerequisites are strictly checked and enforced and must be completed before taking this
course. By taking this course you acknowledge that you will be removed from the course at
any time if you do not meet all requirements set by the Department of Economics.

Entry into third year Advanced Microeconomics ECO326H5 requires a grade of 70 percent in
ECO200Y5Y. This is a required course if you plan to attend graduate school.

SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Course Materials
Our textbook is written by Professor Hal Varian. It is an internationally renowned, and widely
adopted book. After a distinguished career at University of California Berkeley Professor
Varian spends his retirement as Chief Economist at Google. His book is called Intermediate
Microeconomics A Modern Approach ISBN 978-0-393-69132-0 (9th Edition). It is available at
the University of Toronto Bookstore.

The SmartWork5 "Student Set" ID is 488134 (ECO200Y5Y SEPT 2021) The platform is not
very good but the questions are excellent. Many of them come from Workouts. You will notice
that a large number of our test and exam questions are from Workouts/SmartWork.
Course Outline

Week Beginning Session Chapters
Sept. 6 No Activities
Sept. 13 01 Graphing 2, 3, 4
Sept. 20 02 Demand 5, 6
Sept. 27 03 Statics 15, 8, 17
Oct. 4 04 Welfare 7, 14, 16
Oct. 11 Fall Reading Week – No Activities
Oct. 18 Test 1

Oct. 25 06 Endowments 9
Nov. 1 07 Intertemporal 10
Nov. 8 08 Uncertainty 12
Nov. 15 09 Finance 11, 13
Nov. 22 10 Market Failure I 31, 37
Nov. 29 11 Auctions 18
Dec. 6 Test 2

Jan. 10 13 Technology 19, 20
Jan. 17 14 Cost I 21, 22
Jan. 24 15 Cost II 23
Jan. 31 16 Competition 24
Feb. 7 17 Equilibrium 32, 33, 34
Feb. 14 Test 3

Feb. 21 Winter Reading Week – No Activities
Feb. 28 19 Market Failure II 35, 36, 38
Mar. 7 20 Monopoly 25, 26
Mar. 14 21 Input Markets 27
Mar. 21 22 Oligopoly 28
Mar. 28 23 Game Theory 29, 30
Apr. 4 Test 4

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Evaluation
Grades will be awarded based on the weights shown as Plan A and Plan B. Your SmartWorks
scores will be added to Quercus after Test 4. Your grade will be computed under both “Plans”
and you will be give the higher of the two scores.

Item Plan A % Plan B %
Two-hour Synchronous Final Examination 40 40
Best 3 of 4 Synchronous Term Tests

Test 1: Oct. 18 from 08:10 to 09:00
Test 2: Dec. 6 from 08:10 to 09:00
Test 3: Feb. 14 from 08:10 to 09:00
Test 4: Apr. 4 from 08:10 to 09:00
30 30
Synchronous Classroom Activities 10 15
Synchronous Tutorial Activities 10 10
Asynchronous SmartWorks Activities 5 0
Asynchronous Pencast Reviews 5 5

The Synchronous Final Examination is 2 hours and it will be scheduled during the Exam
Period and delivered through Quercus Quizzes.

Synchronous Term Tests are 50 minutes and held during the Monday TUT time 08:10 to 9:00
a.m. Students with AARC accommodations will start earlier. Tests will be delivered as
Quercus. Test instructions will say

Work independently for 50 minutes. Do not exit Quercus during the Test. Varian
Textbook, Notebooks, Calculators are allowed. Pencast Videos are allowed. Other
online resources are not allowed. Use Zoom DM if you have questions during the test.
Late submissions receive zero grades.

Synchronous Classroom Activities and Tutorial Activities are held during class time. These
will be delivered through Quercus Assignments, Quizzes and Zoom. Asynchronous Pencast
Reviews are Quercus Quizzes.
Late Submissions
Synchronous Activities, Term Tests and the Exam are synchronous. These will auto-submit at
the deadline, whether you have finished or not. Quercus provides a timer. It is your
responsibility to finish your work on time. It will take a few minutes for an upload to complete.
If you wait too long, and your upload is missing, you receive zero grade.

Asynchronous Pencast Reviews and SmartWorks Activities are subject to a 50% per day late
penalty.

SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Missed Term Work
Asynchronous Pencast Reviews, SmartWorks Activities and Synchronous Classroom
Activities and Tutorial Activities cannot be made up. Missed work receives a zero grade.

Students who miss a test / due date because of circumstances beyond their control (e.g.
illness or an accident) can request that the Department grant them special consideration. The
following steps must be completed in order to be considered for academic accommodation
for any missed quiz/test/assignment.

1. Your absence must be declared on ACORN on the day of the missed test / due date, or
by the day after, at the latest.

2. You must notify your professor using the Missed Term Test application on Quercus
within one week of the missed test.

3. Complete an online Special Consideration Request within one week of the missed test
/ due date. The University is temporarily suspending the need for a doctor’s note or
medical certificate for any absence from academic participation. However, this policy
may change at any point during the course.

4. Consult the Office of the Registrar should your absence be lengthy or affect multiple
courses.

The request that you submit represents an appeal from you, requesting the opportunity to
account for that portion of your grade in some other manner. If the request is not received, or
if the request is deemed unacceptable, you will receive a grade of zero for the item you
missed. If the request is granted – that is, your reason for missing the item is considered
acceptable by the professor – then …

1. your first missed Term Test results in a “best 3 out of 3” policy and

2. your second, third and even fourth missed Term Test grades will be proxied by
the corresponding section of the Final Exam and the “best 3 out of 3 policy” will
be applied.

Note that it is your responsibility to ensure that your email account is working. Claims that a
Departmental decision was not received will NOT be considered as a reason for further
consideration.

Note that holidays and pre-purchased plane tickets, family plans, your friend’s wedding, lack
of preparation, or too many other tests/assignments are not acceptable excuses for missing a
quiz, a test or an item of term work.


SYLLABUS ECO200Y5Y LEC9101, LEC9102, LEC9103 2021/22
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Students who cannot complete their online final examination due to illness or other serious
causes must file an online petition within 72 hours of the missed examination. Late petitions
will NOT be considered. Students must also record their absence on ACORN on the day of
the missed exam or by the day after at the latest. Upon approval of a deferred exam request,
a non-refundable fee of $70 is required for each examination approved.
Regrade Request
Re-marking Pieces of Term Work will be accepted up to one month from the date the term
work was returned. Please visit during Professor Bailey’s Office Hours for regrading. Do not
email regrade requests.
Privacy and Use of Course Materials
Course staff will be recording video and audio to track attendance, track team participation,
record polls, and to ensure that everyone’s behaviour is in accordance with the Code of
Student Conduct and the Academic Code. Your participation will be recorded but it will never
be made available to other students in the course.

The material on Quercus belongs to The University of Toronto and it is protected by copyright.
You have my permission to download PDF files for your personal use during this course. You
do not have my permission to download or capture the audio and video files.
Technology
In order to take this course, you will need reliable and regular access to a laptop/desktop; a
cell phone is NOT sufficient. You will also need reliable and regular access to high-speed
internet. See the University’s Recommended Technology Requirements for Remote/Online
Learning for more details. Read also the UTM Library Learn Anywhere resource website.
Supplement
The Supplement to Course Syllabi (dated March 25, 2021) of UTM’s Department of
Economics should be understood to be an integral part of this syllabus. It describes

• your responsibility to adhere to the Code of Student Conduct;
• your responsibility to adhere to the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters;
• expectations regarding academic integrity, including examples of violations;
• your responsibility to avoid course conflicts;
• your responsibility to honour the copyright of course materials;
• your right to receive accommodations for religious observances;
• the equity statement for this course;
• your academic rights;
• some resources that are available to you as a student, including Accessibility Services.