The Principles of Microeconomics course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in December 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides and is also named OSS004. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Content ContributorsKen Fah Ohio Dominican UniversityJohn Fiske Ohio Dominican UniversityJoe Nowakowski Muskingum UniversityLibrarianNathan Wolfe Kenyon CollegeReview TeamMolly Cooper Ohio State University Subbu Kumarappan Ohio State University ATI
Ohio Open Ed Collaborative Microeconomics
This content was created as part of an Ohio Department of Higher Education Innovation Grant to create Open Educational Resources for high enrollment courses. A team of faculty content collaborators, a librarian, and a faculty review team worked together to curate this content and assure that it meets the Transfer Assurance Guidelines for this course. The Microeconomics Course Content is designed to help the instructor teach all of the objectives of the course and can be used as a whole or in pieces or modules. The full course is entitled Principles of Microeconomics Course Content. This work was completed and the course was posted in December 2019. Please visit ohioopened.org for more information about this initiative.
This topic presents an evaluation of the effect on competition of scale economies, and acquisitions and mergers. It also covers methods of measuring market concentration as well as a discussion of possible policy measures designed to limit the damage from concentration.
This lesson discusses why and how consumers make certain choices. Based on standard neoclassical theory, students are introduced to the concept of utility, budget constraints, and indifference curves. Given market prices and utility information, students will understand the implicit thought processes that lead to total utility maximization. In cases when individual behaviors do not adhere to the predictions of standard economic theory, the lesson employs behavioral economics to explain how and when consumer choices might be different under certain conditions including limited information, psychological pricing, bounded rationality, nudges, and loss aversion.
In this topic, students will be introduced to the concept of elasticity. They’ll learn about price elasticity of demand and price elasticity of supply, about their determinants and how to calculate it. They’ll be introduced to some applications of price elasticity. They’ll also learn about two other important elasticity measures, cross-price elasticity and income elasticity.
In this topic, students will be introduced to imperfect competition. They’ll learn about monopolistic competition and oligopoly, about their characteristics are and about how they differ from perfect competition and monopoly. They’ll also focus on the importance of the key features of monopolistic competition, product differentiation and advertising; and the key features of oligopoly, mutual interdependence, collusion and the game-theoretic approach to strategy.
This topic examines income inequality, poverty, and discrimination in the U.S. and around the world. The focus is on the U.S. with comparative discussion on other select nations. It provides evidence on poverty trends and a discussion on the causes of poverty. It also provides evidence on income distribution and a discussion on the causes of income inequality. The impact of discrimination on wage earnings is examined. There is an emphasis on policy measures to address poverty and income inequality.
In this topic, students will be introduced to the elements of international trade. They’ll learn about the gains from trade and how they arise. They’ll learn the difference between absolute and comparative advantage and why comparative advantage is the key to profitable trade. They’ll also be exposed to the types of trade restrictions imposed by governments and the usual justifications for those restrictions.
In this opening topic, students will be introduced to the fundamentals of economics including some important concepts and terms that they’ll use throughout the course. They’ll begin by learning about the basic problem in economics and how that problem is solved under different economic systems, including the market system. They’ll also be introduced to the idea of an economic model.
In this topic, students will be introduced to the concept of market failure and learn about its two prime examples, the presence of externalities and the provision of public goods. The concept of externalities will be explained through the use of examples such as environmental protection and technological innovation. The resources identified below also include a brief coverage of market efficiency, which would usually be covered elsewhere, if the instructor wishes to review.
This topic introduces the features of the market for labor, a factor of production. It examines the factors that determine the demand for labor and supply of labor. Equilibrium employment and wages under different assumptions of output and labor market structure are presented. It considers the potential consequences of the minimum wage for workers and employers. Current developments in US labor markets including labor unions, and their implications for trends in wages and earnings are explored.
This topic introduces key concepts that form the foundation of much of microeconomic analysis. The material ranges from a discussion of model-building as a way to simplify complex relationships among economic variables to definitions and descriptions of key concepts such as scarcity, efficiency and inefficiency, opportunity cost, comparative advantage and the gains from trade.
In this topic, students will be introduced to monopoly. They’ll learn what a monopoly is, how it differs from perfect competition and what conditions give rise to it. They’ll also learn how monopolists decide on the profit-maximizing level of output and price. The social costs and benefits of monopoly will also be covered. In addition to monopoly, the topic will cover price discrimination.
This topic covers the analysis of a firm’s costs in the short and long run. It explains the important difference between accounting and economic costs (and how that affects the definition of accounting and economic profits). It also makes the distinction between fixed and variable costs.
This topic presents an analysis of firm behavior under perfect competition. It begins by identifying the requirements for perfect competition. It then covers the definitions and meaning of costs in the short and long run, describes the firm’s profit-maximizing output decision and its entry-exit decisions. It ends with a discussion of the efficiency implications of perfect competition.
An analysis of how the private and public sectors interact, the role of taxes and how the decisions regarding their disposition are made, as well as the role of special interests and voting procedures.
This topic covers the basics of demand and supply for a principles of microeconomics course. Students will learn about the determinants of market demand and market supply for a good or service. It enables students to employ an analytical tool in expressing the potential impacts of changes in market conditions on the consumers and sellers of a good or service. It provides the basic tools to help students understand the impacts of policies that affect various economic units.
This topic presents an introduction to the economics of US healthcare, with a focus on the major players including consumers, providers, private insurance, and government. It covers the challenges and opportunities for the US healthcare system including quality, costs, and access. An application of supply and demand analysis to healthcare markets is discussed. It compares U.S. health outcomes to those of other countries. Students are introduced to various data sources on US and global healthcare.