Microeconomics for Managers: Foundations

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REQUIREMENT | WAIVE BY EXAM | PREPARATION RESOURCES

MICROECONOMICS FOR MANAGERS: FOUNDATIONS FIXED CORE REQUIREMENT

Note: Until AY 2024-25, this course was formerly referred to as MGEC

Microeconomics for Managers Foundations (0.5 CU) establishes the micro-economic foundations for understanding business decision-making. Students with an economics background should still enjoy the application-oriented approach to basic economic concepts. The course covers demand, supply, market equilibrium under full information and policy interventions (4 lectures), perfectly competitive markets and pricing with market power (3 lectures), an introduction to game theory (3 lectures), a lecture on auctions (1 lecture), and additional topics of current interest. Students are expected to have mastered these materials before enrolling in the second quarter course: Microeconomics for Managers: Advanced Applications.

WAIVER BY EXAM

Incoming students who have an extensive background in economics may waive out of the first quarter of Microeconomics for Managers by passing a waiver exam. The second quarter covers advanced topics and is required for all students.

To be exempted from enrolling in BEPP 6110: Microeconomics for Managers: Foundations, students have to pass a 90-minute waiver exam. It should be noted that BEPP is a cohorted class, and offers the opportunity to work together with your learning team on problem sets and group projects, and so students report enjoying participating in both quarters, even if some of the material is review.

About the Exam: 

The Waiver Exam tests mastery of the following topics:

1. Demand and Supply
2. Market Equilibrium
3. Taxes
4. Regulating Externalities
5. Cost-Minimization
6. Operating in a Price-Taking Industry
7. Optimal Monopoly Production and Pricing
8. Double Marginalization and Supply Chains
9. Simultaneous-Move Games
10. Sequential-Move Games
11. Repeated Games

Please note, you should not expect to pass the waiver exam if you have just a passing familiarity with these topics, or even some deeper expertise in a subset of the topics. The BEPP course teaches these topics at an advanced level, with specialized applications to business settings, and the waiver exam is designed to mirror this content. Many students who have undergraduate economics degrees still find they need to take the course, as they may not have covered all topics in depth, or may need to review some areas.

Exam Preparation:

There is no prep course for this exam.

PREPARATION RESOURCES

Note: Until AY 2024-25, this course was formerly referred to as MGEC