Introduction to the Japanese Economy

Schedule and Readings

Ryoichi Imai

imryoichi@isc.kyushu-u.ac.jp

International Student Center, Kyushu University

2005/01/20

Schedule (subject to change)

10/14: Introduction: What is economics?

Scarcity. Resource Allocation. Households. Firms and Workers. Markets and Organizations. Production and Consumption. Prices and Quantities. Demand and Supply. Private Sectors and Government.

10/21: Consumer Theory

Preference. Indifference Curve. Budget Constraints. Utility Function.

10/28: Producer Theory

Technology. Production Function. Returns to Scale. Profit Maximization.  

11/04: A Two-Country Model of Capital Flows

Technological Progress/Slowdown, Autarchy

11/11: The Model with the Government

Ricardian Equivalence, Reaganomics, Twin Deficits

11/18: Review for the Midterm Exam.

11/25: Midterm Exam.

12/02: Review of the Exam

12/09: Competition and Welfare

Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Duopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic Competition

12/16:  Pareto Efficiency

********************* Winter Break *************************

01/13: Public Goods

01/20: Economics of Information

01/27: Game Theory

02/03: Review of the Course

02/10: Final Exam.

********************* End of the Course *********************

Readings

Varian, Hal R. [2002], Intermediate Microeconomics, 6th ed., Norton.

Although titled "Intermediate", this book is good for introduction to a rigorous treatment of microeconomics. Other introductory books are too easy to be discussed in the class.

Obstfeld and Rogoff [1996], The Foundations of International Macroeconomics, MIT Press

The two period model of international capital flow is taken from Chapter 1 of this book.

Laffont, Jean-Jacques [1989], The Economics of Uncertainty and Information, MIT Press.

A concise presentation of the model of insurance is found in Chapter 8 of this book.

Gibbons Robert [1992], Game Theory for Applied Economists, Princeton.

A nice introduction to the game theory at intermediate and advanced levels. Also accessible to students at introductory levels.

Mas-Colell, Andreu, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green [1995], Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press.

An advanced textbook of microeconomics, widely used at Ph.D. courses in Economics.

Tirole, Jean [1988], The Theory of Industrial Organization, MIT Press.

A guide to the applied microeconomics with so many examples from the real economy. Intermediate and advanced levels.