Engineering Economic Analysis

Students who have already taken an intermediate microeconomics course may find parts of this course repetitive. The course will cover the following topics: mathematics of optimization, consumer choice and demand theory, demand estimation, production and the theory of the firm, an introduction to cost accounting, and market structures.

IE54500

Credit Hours:

3

Learning Objective:

As an intermediate microeconomics course for engineers, the goal is to provide graduate students in Industrial Engineering with an overview of the key concepts in microeconomics.

Description:

Students who have already taken an intermediate microeconomics course may find parts of this course repetitive. The course will cover the following topics: mathematics of optimization, consumer choice and demand theory, demand estimation, production and the theory of the firm, an introduction to cost accounting, and market structures.

Topics Covered:

Introduction; Mathematics of Optimization--Unconstrained Optimization: First and Second Order Conditions, Constrained Optimization: Lagrangian Multipliers and Kuhn-Tucker Conditions; Consumer Choice and Demand Theory--Utility Functions, Utility Maximization and Demand Functions; Forecasting and Methods from Marketing Research--Demand Estimation, Measuring Consumer Preferences; Production and Supply--Production Functions, Costs of Production, Profit Maximization and Supply; Accounting and Costs--Basic Concepts and Classification of Costs, Activity Based Costing; Market Structures--Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly, Game Theory Models of Pricing.

Prerequisites:

Multivariate calculus.

Applied / Theory:

Web Address:

https://mycourses.purdue.edu/

Web Content:

All handouts, assignments and homework solutions, except for the case studies, will be posted on the course web site. Students must download these assignments.

Homework:

Six to eight assignments (problem sets), assigned roughly every two weeks, may be downloaded from the course web page; students will usually have about two weeks to complete the assignments; will count for approximately 15% of the final grade.

Projects:

Required, not job-related. There will be two case studies assigned during the semester. Students will work in teams of 2-4 students to complete each case study. Each team will be required to prepare and submit a formal written report on the case (approximately 5 pages in length). The case studies will count for approximately 25% of the final grade.

Exams:

One midterm exam and one comprehensive final exam.

Textbooks:

Official textbook information is now listed in the Schedule of Classes. NOTE: Textbook information is subject to be changed at any time at the discretion of the faculty member. If you have questions or concerns please contact the academic department.
Required--Walter Nicholson, Christopher Snyder "Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions," Cengage Learning, 2011, 11th ed., ISBN 9781111525538.

Computer Requirements:

ProEd minimum computer requirements.

Other Requirements:

None.

ProEd Minimum Requirements:

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