Why does the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMA) prescribes KPN Telecom to set higher prices? When does it make sense for a firm to introduce a variable-wage payment scheme? Does the set of social norms and values someone is confronted with increase or decrease one's reactions to changes in prices? Such questions, where economic decision-making is analysed in its institutional context, will be treated in this course, in which a profound treatment will be provided of modern microeconomics. Students are supposed to have knowledge of microeconomics at the level of the course Microeconomics and Institutions. The course Intermediate Microeconomics investigates consumer and producer behaviour more in-depth. Next to this it includes the analysis of situations where uncertainty, interacting actors (game theory) and asymmetric information play a role. Also attention will be paid to the way microeconomics, as a branch of rational choice theory, can be used as a framework to integrate elements of other disciplines into the economic approach to make interdisciplinary analyses of social (including economic) problems. Special attention is given to the perspective of those who in the future want to work in business or in a government agency (managerial decision-making; public-policy decision-making).                                                     

Learning objectives     
At the end of the course the student is able to:

• reason in terms of scarcity, relative prices, income and substitution effects, demand and supply, markets and market imperfections, including in situations where uncertainty, interacting actors and asymmetric information play a role;
• apply the microeconomic approach to problems that traditionally are studied by other disciplines;
• to understand how microeconomics can be used as a frame to integrate elements of other disciplines into the economic approach to make interdisciplinary analyses of social (including economic) problems;
• recognize microeconomic aspects in social problems and to analyse these aspects with a modelling approach (graphically as well as algebraically) (essential skills academic reasoning and working and problem solving).

Format
Lectures and tutorials.

Assessment method

• Mid-term examination (40% of the final grade);
• End-term examination (60% of the final grade).

The examinations are closed-book examinations consisting of open questions. The essential skills academic reasoning and working and problem solving are tested in both examinations.

Effort requirements
Passing with a sufficient grade at least 5 out of 7 effort requirement tests in the Electronic Learning Environment  (ELE) by answering a series of questions and solving problems.

Course repeaters
Students who have enrolled and failed this course in one year or did not dis-enrol within 2 weeks after commencement of the course, will take part in a repeater's course next year. For this course, this implies that course repeaters:

• Do have effort requirements
• Can follow the (regular) lectures
• Have the possibility to follow a Q&A tutorial before the exam
• Have an individual exam (100 %)

Language of instruction
English/Dutch.

Courses that build on Intermediate Microeconomics:

• Advanced Mathematics (ECB2VWIS)
• Industrial Organisation (ECB3IO)
• Microeconomics of Financial Markets (ECB3ME)
• Market Organisation, Dynamics and Innovation (ECB3DSM)
• The Economics of European Integration (ECB3EEI)
• Labour Economics (ECB3ARBE)
• Institutional Perspectives on Business (ECB3IPB)

Students are expected to have knowledge of:

• Microeconomics and Institutions (ECB1MI), or Principles of Microeconomics (EC1PME)
• Mathematics (ECB1WIS), or Statistics (ECB1STAT)