This course will be held in rotation mode. For classroom presence, see the table at the bottom of this page.

Please create access to Microsoft Teams before the first lesson.

Microsoft Teams is used flexibly, either at the lecturer's desk in the lecture room (or - if it is not allowed to enter the lecture rooms - in the home office).

The screen of the lecturer's desk is shared between the students in the lecture room and those at home. For the students in the lecture room, the lecturer's PC projects onto the whiteboard; students at home need their own laptop (tablet), with which MS-Teams can share the screen. The sound is transmitted from the lecture room via a microphone to the students in the home office. (It is not intended / necessary to film the lecturer.)

This mode is very flexible and the presence in the lecture room can vary between 0% - 100%.

Please note, that this course setup requires up to 2 hours mandatory classroom presence per week for students who are in Vienna (all students from Austria as well as students from countries where no official travel restrictions apply). Students, where official travel restrictions issued by their governments apply, will participate in meetings via MS Teams. This also applies for incoming exchange students.

In addition, note that guided self-study per week is required (on the basis of selected textbook chapters and problem sets).

Please note: Please, find the description of the course mode below at "Course mode". Should this mode not be feasable, the course will be held in distance learning mode.

This course introduces some key approaches that economists use to analyse and understand the behavior of consumers, firms and governments, both from a theoretical and an applied perspective.

This course is subdivided into two thematic blocks.

The first block focuses on consumer theory and production theory, chapters 1-8 in Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 9th global ed.

The second bloc focuses on the concept of market equilibrium under the assumption of perfect competition, chapter 9 in Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 9th global ed. and on issues of competition, chapters 10-13 in Pindyck and Rubinfeld, 9th global ed.

If you are not subject to travel restrictions, attendance is mandatory (either in the lecture room or remotely via MS-Teams) on specified dates.  A maximum of 2 times absenteeism is tolerated without prior notice. Further absenteeism will lead to deregistration.

(a) Homework assignments: 40% [Note that there will be deductions of points for late delivery of homeworks.]

(b) Class-room assignments: 20% [Note that these assignments will be scheduled for 15 minutes at the beginning of each session.]

(c) Final exam: 40%

A minimum of 30% must be achieved in each category.

Overall performance must be >=60% in order to pass.

Grading scheme:

For those who fail in the final exam, there will be a retake offered one week later.

If you have a valid registration for the lecture, but will not participate, please deregister during the registration period of LPIS. Your place will be available for other students.

During the registration period, free places are filled according to the “first-come, first-served” principle. After the end of the registration period, the number of places is increased and students on the waiting list will be registered for the lecture based on their progress in their studies.

Attendance in the first session is necessary, any absence will lead to deregistration! Any remaining places in the classes will be allocated to students attending the first session according to the waiting list. No places will be allocated by email or by phone.

bellak@wu.ac.at

phone: 00431313364505

Please note that the use of cellphones is not permitted during this course, unless mandated by the instructor.

Concerning exams: Please note that you may request a post-exam review within one week after the exam. After this period, the marks will be entered into LPIS and will be final.