Intermediate Microeconomics I

Course information

Learning outcomes

The main objective is to master the microeconomic approach to understanding economic phenomena, and to be able to apply the most widely used tools of microeconomics to solving economic decision problems.

The most important learning objectives are the analysis of competitive markets, basic pricing, decision analysis of firms under uncertainty, welfare analysis of policy interventions in markets, understanding and ameliorating problems with public goods and externalities.

Content

Microeconomics studies the economy at the level of individual markets/industries and from the point of view of consumers, firms, and governments.

The central content in this course is the demand-supply framework and its various extensions and applications, the basics of the theory of consumer, monopoly and pricing with market power, decision analysis, and public goods.

Teacher

Marko Terviö

Study material

Material released at the course web page.

Textbook by Hal Varian: "Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus: A Modern Approach" 

Workload

Lectures 24 hours, optional q&a sessions 10 hours, exam 3 hours, and self-study including homework 123 hours.

Prerequisites

Recommended prerequisites: Principles of economics (31A00110, ECON-A2100, ECON-C9000, or equivalent).

Evaluation

Final grade is based on exam (50%) and homework exercises (50%). In order to pass the course the student must obtain at least 50% of the possible total points for the homework exercises.

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2025-2026 is selected  

3. From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
    

   Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Further information

Equivalences to other courses: Intermediate Microeconomics I (6 cr) (ECON-C2100), Intermediate Microeconomics (6 cr) (31C00100)

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 4.8.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 25.8.2025 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The number of participants is limited to 5.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication