Consumer economics

This unit introduces economic principles underlying consumer choice and market demand; describing consumer preferences, indifference curves and budget constraints, with particular emphasis on the role of prices as conveyors of information. It introduces economic tools and concepts for the analyses of consumption choices over time, under uncertainty and/or with risk, and in markets with asymmetric information. Other topics include work-leisure choice, wage changes and the supply of labour, and the provision of public goods and environmental goods. An examination of observed economic and social outcomes from the point of view of various normative criteria completes the coverage.