The Principles of Microeconomics course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in December 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides and is also named OSS004. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Content ContributorsKen Fah                                             Ohio Dominican UniversityJohn Fiske                                         Ohio Dominican UniversityJoe Nowakowski                                Muskingum UniversityLibrarianNathan Wolfe                                     Kenyon CollegeReview TeamMolly Cooper                                     Ohio State University Subbu Kumarappan                          Ohio State University ATI 

In this opening topic, students will be introduced to the fundamentals of economics including some important concepts and terms that they’ll use throughout the course. They’ll begin by learning about the basic problem in economics and how that problem is solved under different economic systems, including the market system. They’ll also be introduced to the idea of an economic model.     

In this topic, students will be introduced to the concept of market failure and learn about its two prime examples, the presence of externalities and the provision of public goods. The concept of externalities will be explained through the use of examples such as environmental protection and technological innovation. The resources identified below also include a brief coverage of market efficiency, which would usually be covered elsewhere, if the instructor wishes to review.     

This topic introduces key concepts that form the foundation of much of microeconomic analysis. The material ranges from a discussion of model-building as a way to simplify complex relationships among economic variables to definitions and descriptions of key concepts such as scarcity, efficiency and inefficiency, opportunity cost, comparative advantage and the gains from trade.

In this topic, students will be introduced to monopoly.  They’ll learn what a monopoly is, how it differs from perfect competition and what conditions give rise to it.  They’ll also learn how monopolists decide on the profit-maximizing level of output and price.  The social costs and benefits of monopoly will also be covered.  In addition to monopoly, the topic will cover price discrimination.   

This topic covers the analysis of a firm’s costs in the short and long run.  It explains the important difference between accounting and economic costs (and how that affects the definition of accounting and economic profits).  It also makes the distinction between fixed and variable costs.

This topic presents an analysis of firm behavior under perfect competition. It begins by identifying the requirements for perfect competition. It then covers the definitions and meaning of costs in the short and long run, describes the firm’s profit-maximizing output decision and its entry-exit decisions. It ends with a discussion of the efficiency implications of perfect competition.