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ECON 101 (005): Principles of Microeconomics

1 Course Description

Individuals, firms, and societies have limited resources. For example, individuals have only so much time, firms have only so many workers, and societies have only so much land. At its core, microeconomics is the study of how decision makers—be they individuals, firms, or societies—do use and should use their limited resources.

More specifically, this course examines a board range of issues including: how markets and prices help allocate society’s scarce resources; what determines market prices; how consumers and firms make decisions and interact in markets; how firms choose what types and quantities of goods and services to produce and sell; how various government policies affect market outcomes and social welfare; and how economists view the problems caused by pollution, public goods, and common property resources.

This course also addresses specific questions like: Is a market system a good way of organizing economic activity and allocating society’s scarce resources? What is the best way for the government to raise the tax revenue? Does increasing the minimum wage make sense? Are rent controls a good way to keep housing affordable? How does international trade affect the well-being of Canadians and their trading partners?

The general framework used to answer these questions is sometimes called the “the economic way of thinking.” Learning how to apply this framework will help you better understand the world around you. It can also help you make better decisions in your personal life and professional career.

2 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, you should be able to

● use economic ideas such as the cost-benefit principle, willingness to pay, opportunity cost, and the marginalist principle to analyze a wide variety of economic problems.

● demonstrate how trade, both between individuals and between countries, has the potential to make all parties better off.

● use the supply and demand model to analyze how various events and government policies affect market outcomes.

● explain the assumptions underlying the supply and demand model and the model’s limitations.

● understand what economists mean by the efficient use of resources.

● appreciate how unregulated markets can, in certain circumstances, produce outcomes that many people would deem socially desirable.

● identify situations where unregulated markets are likely to produce inefficient outcomes and where gov-ernment intervention may be able to improve the welfare of individuals and society.

● describe different types of market structure and the resource allocations they produce.

3 Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

4 Course Materials

The required materials for this course are

● MyLab Economics with Pearson eText for “Microeconomics: Canada in the Global Environment”, Michael Parkin and Robin Bade, 11th edition, Pearson Canada, 2021. You can buy it at the UBC Bookstore.

● iClicker Cloud, which is an is an online student response system that allows you to respond individu-ally to in-class polls and low-stakes quizzes using your own computer or mobile device. UBC currently has a site license for iClicker Cloud, so there is no cost to you. You can find more information at https://lthub.ubc.ca/guides/iclicker-cloud-student-guide/.

You can use MyLab Economics on a trial basis without paying for 14 days (see section 6 for details about how to do this). But you must either pay or enter a valid MyLab Access Code before the end of the free trial period. If you do not, your access to MyLab Economics will be suspended until you either pay or provide a valid access code. You will also be able to access the Parkin and Bade eText through MyLab during this trial period.

If you do not already own one, please buy a small tripod with a mount for your smartphone. You will use Zoom on your phone to transmit a live video feed of your work area and computer to the invigilators during your exams. The most difficult part of this process is typically setting your phone in a stable position that provides a suitable view of your work area and computer. Having a small tripod with a phone mount makes this much easier. If the video feed of your work area is interrupted during your exam because, for example, your phone slides and points away from your work area, you will be treated as if absent from the exam and will get a grade of zero. Using small tripod with a smartphone mount will prevent this happening, so it is a worthwhile investment. You can buy a fairly decent one for between $15 and $30 (click here to see an example).

5 Outline of Topics

The following table lists the topics and the corresponding chapters of Parkin and Bade textbook covered in each week of the course:

Week	Dates	Topic	Chapter
1	Sep 6 to Sep 12	What Is Economics?	1
2	Sep 13 to Sep 19	The Economic Problem	2
3	Sep 20 to Sep 26	Demand and Supply	3
4	Sep 27 to Oct 3	Elasticity	4
5	Oct 4 to Oct 10	Efficiency and Equity	5
6	Oct 11 to Oct 17	Government Actions in Markets	6
7	Oct 18 to Oct 24	Global Markets in Action	7
8	Oct 25 to Oct 31	Output and Costs	10
9	Nov 1 to Nov 7	Perfect Competition	11
10	Nov 8 to Nov 14	Midterm Break	N/A
11	Nov 15 to Nov 21	Monopoly	12
12	Nov 22 to Nov 28	Oligopoly	14
13	Nov 29 to Dec 5	Externalities	15

6 Mylab Economics

To register for MyLab Economics:

1. Go to https://www.pearson.com/mylab

2. Under Register, select Student.

3. Confirm you have the information needed, then select “OK! Register now”.

4. Enter the course ID, which is chapple51860, and select “Continue”.

5. If you don’t have a Pearson account, select “Create” and complete the required fields. If do you a Pearson account, enter your existing Pearson account username and password to Sign In. You will have an account if you have ever used a MyLab or Mastering product.

6. Select an access option

(a) If you purchased a textbook bundle from the UBC bookstore, enter 6-string MyLab Economics Access Code that was included.

(b) Buy access using a credit card or PayPal. The $95 option provides access to MyLab Economics and the Parkin/Bade eText. The $49.99 option provides to access to MyLab Economics but not the Parkin/Bade eText. Since you need access to the Parkin/Bade eText, be sure to select the $95 option.

(c) Get temporary access. This will give you to get temporary access to MyLab Economics and the textbook for 14 days.

7. From the “You’re Done!” page, select “Go To My Courses”.

8. On the “My Courses” page, select the course name “Econ 101 Fall 2021” to start your work.

Once you have registered, use the following steps to sign in to MyLab Economics at any time:

1. Go to https://www.pearson.com/mylab

2. Select “Sign In”.

3. Enter your Pearson account username and password, and Sign In.

4. Select the course name “Econ 101 Fall 2021” to start your work.

To upgrade temporary access to full access:

1. Go to https://www.pearson.com/mylab

2. Select “Sign In”.

3. Enter your Pearson account username and password, and Sign In.

4. Select “Upgrade access” for “Econ 101 Fall 2021”.

5. Enter an access code or buy access with a credit card or PayPal. If you buying access with a credit card or PayPal, you will see two options. The $95 option provides access to MyLab Economics and the Parkin/Bade eText. The $49.99 option provides to access to MyLab Economics but not the Parkin/Bade eText. Since you need access to the Parkin/Bade eText, be sure to select the $95 option.

7 Canvas

Canvas will be used to post course-related resources such as video lectures, lecture notes and practice exercises. It will also be used to make course announcements, and to communicate with you by email, and to facilitate class discussions via Piazza. You should check Canvas regularly to make sure you don’t miss anything important. You can access Canvas at https://canvas.ubc.ca/ using your CWL (campus-wide login).

8 Important Dates

Date	Comment
Monday, Sep 6th	Labour Day. University closed.
Tuesday, Sep 7th	UBC Imagine Day.
Monday, Oct 11th	Thanksgiving Day. University closed.
Monday, Oct 18th	Midterm 1 (18:00 to 18:50 PST online)
Thursday, Nov 11th	Remembrance Day. University closed.
Monday, Nov 15th	Midterm 2 (18:00 to 18:50 PST online)

9 Teaching Assistants

Cassidy Rheaume and Lea Assadourian are your teaching assistants for this course. Their contact details and weekly office hours will be posted on Canvas at the end of Week 1. Cassidy and Lea will hold weekly office hours starting in Week 2. They will also run the weekly synchronous discussions.

10 Office Hours

Starting in Week 2, Professor Chapple will hold a limited number of 15 minute bookable office hour meetings on Tuesdays between 9:30 am and 11:00 am PST. These meetings will be conducted via Zoom. The method for booking an office hour meeting with Professor Chapple will be posted on Canvas at the end of Week 1.

Since the number of meetings is limited, please book a maximum of one meeting every two weeks and do not book a meeting more than two weeks in advance.

Starting Week 2, the course TAs will hold virtual office hours using Zoom in Canvas for two hours a week. The days and times of these office hours will be posted on Canvas at the end of Week 1. These are drop-in office hours and attendance is optional.

11 Course Format

This section of ECON101 is a 3-credit online course. The following components of the course are delivered asynchronously:

● Textbook readings

● Video lectures

● MyLab graded assignments

● MyLab practice exercises

● Canvas practice exercises

● Piazza discussion forums

The following components of the course are delivered synchronously:

● Weekly 50-minute session with the course instructor (starting in Week 2)

● Weekly 50-minute discussion with teaching assistant (starting in Week 2)

The following sections provide descriptions of each of the components of the course.

11.1 Textbook readings

Each week of this 13-week course corresponds to specific chapter of the Parkin and Bade textbook. See section 5 for a list of which chapters of the textbook are covered during each week of the course. You must study the material in each of these chapters during the specified week. If you fall behind with your assigned readings, you will find it difficult to catch up.

11.2 Video lectures

Video lectures will be posted on Canvas each week on Mondays at 1:00 am PST.

The video lectures will cover some, but not all, of the material presented in the week’s assigned textbook reading. They also cover some concepts and examples not covered in the textbook. The video lectures and textbook readings are complements rather than substitutes and the content of both are examinable.

Each week’s video lectures come with a set of lecture notes posted on Canvas. The lecture notes provide most, but not all, of the material—text, diagrams and analysis—appearing in the slides used for the video lectures. The lecture notes are specifically designed for you to annotate by hand as you watch the video lectures. They include white space for adding additional diagrams, equations, and other notes as required.

You should annotate your lecture notes by hand as you watch the videos. This will help you get the most out of the videos. Your annotated notes will also provide a concise summary of the content of the videos that you can refer to later in the course for the purpose of review and exam preparation.

The lecture notes are published as PDF files. If you have trouble opening or viewing a set of the lecture notes, try using a different browser. If the problem persists, download and install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The video lectures and lecture notes are copyrighted. Do not use, revise, distribute, or post without the explicit written permission of the copyright owner, Clive Chapple.

11.3 MyLab assignments

You must complete 28 graded MyLab Assignments throughout the term, comprising 14 homeworks and 14 quizzes. In aggregate, the homeworks and quizzes determine 11.2% of your course grade. There is one homework and one quiz for each chapter of the textbook covered in this course. There are also homeworks and quizzes associated with the Chapters 1 and 3 appendices. Each of the 14 homeworks is worth 0.4% of your course grade and each of the 14 quizzes is worth 0.4% of your course grade.

There is an additional “Getting to Know MyLab” homework in Week 1. It shows you how the MyLab assignment system works and requires no knowledge of economics. Your performance on this assignment does not contribute to your course grade, but you must get a grade of at least 75% to unlock access to the Chapter 1 homework.

Each homework is made up of about 20 relatively short questions. You have unlimited attempts at the questions in each homework, so you can keep trying to improve your grade as much as you like before the submission deadline. Getting a grade of at least 75% on the homework is a prerequisite for being able to write the corresponding quiz.

Each quiz is 40 minutes long and must be completed in a single sitting; that is, once you start the quiz, you must complete it within 40 minutes. Each quiz contains between 12 and 14 questions. You only have one attempt at each question. You must complete each quiz before 11:59 pm PST on Sunday. You will be able to review the quiz questions after the submission deadline.

With the exception of Week 1, each week’s homework and quiz becomes available at 1:00 am PST on Mondays. The Week 1 homeworks and quizzes become available at 1:00 am PST on Wednesday, September 8.

All homeworks and quizzes are due at 11:59 pm PST on Sundays.

All homeworks and quizzes submitted after the due date and time receive an automatic penalty of 20% for each day they are late until the grade is reduced to zero.

All homeworks and quizzes must be completed independently. Seeking aid to complete any of the homeworks or quizzes before their corresponding deadline will be viewed as academic misconduct.

11.4 MyLab practice exercises

The MyLab Study Plan provides opportunities to complete additional practice exercises. The exercises in the Study Plan are ungraded and completing them is optional.

Although you can work on the Study Plan Exercises on all chapters covered by this course at any time, the Course Instructor and teaching assistants will only answer questions about exercises included in the Study Plan after the relevant chapter has been covered in the course.

11.5 Canvas practice exercises

Practice exercises will be posted on Canvas each week. These exercises will typically be longer and more challenging than the MyLab questions.

Answers to the exercises—but not detailed solutions—will be posted on Canvas at the end of each week so you can check your work.

Detailed step-by-step solutions to the practice exercises will be provided by your TA in the following week’s synchronous discussion. For example, the practice exercises posted on Canvas in Week 2 will be covered by your TA in the Week 3 discussion, the practice exercises posted on Canvas in Week 3 will be covered by your TA in the Week 4 discussion, and so on. You are expected to make your own summary of the step-by-step solutions provided by your TA during the discussion.

Although these practice exercises are not graded and so have no direct impact on your course grade, they are designed to enhance your understanding of the course material and help prepare you for your exams.

11.6 Piazza discussion forums

Piazza is an online question-and-answer application used to facilitate written discussions involving students, teaching assistants, and instructors. Piazza supports wiki-like collaboration, post endorsing, anonymous posting, and polling. Piazza is a web application integrated with Canvas.

Piazza is your main method for interacting with other students, the course teaching assistants and the course instructor on matters related to course content. If you have a question about something in the textbook, something in one of the lecture videos, one of the MyLab exercises, or something covered in one of the weekly synchronous sessions, post your question on Piazza.

Piazza uses a structure of folders and subfolders to help keep the discussion organized. When you post a question in Piazza, you will be asked to select a folder and subfolder. Folders will be created each week as the course progresses and named wk1, wk2, wk3 and so on. Each of those folders will five subfolders: text, videos, mylab, sync and other. When you post a question, you should select the folder that corresponds to week of the course in which the subject of your question was covered in the assigned textbook reading and/or lecture video. For example, if your question is about the basics of the supply and demand model, you would select the wk3 folder because the basics of the supply and demand model were covered in the Week 3 textbook reading and lecture videos. You then select a subfolder depending on the specific subject of your question:

● select the text subfolder if your question is about some aspect of the assigned textbook reading

● select the videos subfolder if your question is about some aspect of one of the lecture videos

● select the mylab subfolder if your question is about one of the mylab assignments or practice questions

● select the sync subfolder if your question is about something covered in one of the weekly synchronous sessions with either the instructor or one of the TAs

● select the other subfolder if none of the other subfolders seems appropriate

There will also be a admin Piazza folder. Use this to post any questions you might have about the structure and/or administration of the course.

When you post a question on Piazza, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

● Do not use the Piazza discussion forums to discuss matters of a personal or sensitive nature.

● Make your question as clear, concise, and specific as possible.

● If you question is about something that appears in the textbook, reference the exact material in the textbook you are asking about; e.g., “I have a question about the example discussed in the second paragraph on page 135 of the textbook. My question is. . . ”.

● If you question is about something that appears in one of the lecture videos, reference the material as precisely as possible; e.g., “I have a question about the diagram discussed at time 3:20 in Week 7 – Video 2. My question is. . . ”

● Do not ask questions about any of the questions appearing in the graded Mylab assignments before the assignment’s due date and time. The only exception to this rule is that you can ask about one of the Mylab graded Mylab assignments before the assignment’s due date and time if you think there is an error in either the question or the solution.

● When asking a question about one of the MyLab assignments, please specify the assignment, the question number, and, if applicable, the question part.

Use the following link to sign up for Piazza for this class: https://piazza.com/ubc.ca/winterterm12021/econ1010052021w1

When you post a question on Piazza, expect to wait between 24 and 48 hours before the getting a response from either the course instructor or the teaching assistant. This delay will give other students in the class a opportunity to respond to your question, which is something I hope will happen a lot. Remember, one of the best ways to learn something well is to spend time explain it to someone else.

The Piazza tool is stored on servers outside Canada. When you access this site by clicking on the link through Canvas, you are being transferred to these servers. To protect your identity, UBC obfuscates your user ID before it is sent to the site. However, Piazza does require you to create an account on their servers. While Piazza adheres to strict U.S. privacy regulations (FERPA), UBC cannot guarantee security of your private details on servers outside of Canada. Please exercise caution whenever using personal information. You may wish to use a pseudonym to protect your privacy if you have concerns.

11.7 Weekly session with the course instructor

You are required to attend one 50-minute synchronous Zoom sessions on Mondays from 18:00 to 18:50 PST. The Zoom links for these sessions will be posted on Canvas at the end of Week 1.

The course instructor will ask pose some multiple choice questions during these sessions which you will answer using the iClicker Cloud app.

The schedule of activities for the Monday synchronous sessions are as follows:

Week	Date	Activity
1	Sep 6	No session. University closed for Labour Day.
2	Sep 13	Q&A on Week 1 material
3	Sep 20	Q&A on Week 2 material
4	Sep 27	Q&A on Week 3 material
5	Oct 4	Q&A on Week 4 material
6	Oct 11	No session. University closed for Thanksgiving Day.
7	Oct 18	Midterm 1
8	Oct 25	Q&A on Week 5, 6 and 7 material
9	Nov 1	Q&A on Week 8 material
10	Nov 8	Q&A on Week 9 material
11	Nov 15	Midterm 2
12	Nov 22	Q&A on Week 11 material
13	Nov 29	Q&A on Week 12 material
14	Dec 6	Q&A on Week 13 material