EPOKA UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
COURSE SYLLABUS
2024-2025 ACADEMIC YEAR
COURSE INFORMATIONCourse Title: INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS |
| Code | Course Type | Regular Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECO 111 | A | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) | Prof.Dr. Güngör Turan gturan@epoka.edu.al |
| Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | M.Sc. Jonida Rada jballiu@epoka.edu.al , Thursday, 10:00 - 12:00 |
| Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Language: | English |
| Compulsory/Elective: | Compulsory |
| Study program: (the study for which this course is offered) | Bachelor in International Marketing and Logistics Management (3 years) |
| Classroom and Meeting Time: | D-302, Tuesday 08:40 |
| Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours: | NA |
| Code of Ethics: |
Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline" |
| Attendance Requirement: | 75% |
| Course Description: | This is an introductory microeconomics course. The aim of the course is to develop an understanding of elementary microeconomics analysis and its applications. By the end of the term, the student will have acquired a basic understanding of the main microeconomics topics, including analysis of the consumer, the firm, the economics of public sector and product markets. The material covered as part of this course will help students to organize their ideas about economics. |
| Course Objectives: | Learning economics at the introducing level. Why we are studying economics? Why do we need science of economics? Basic concepts of economics. Tools of economics. The logic of economics. Markets and government in a modern economy. Basic elements of supply and demand. Applications of supply and demand. Comprehending of economic life, analyzing of firm behaviors and deciding processes, analyzing of factor markets and firms deciding strategies in different markets, analyzing of firm behaviors in monopoly, monopoly competition and oligopoly markets and analyzing factor. |
|
BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE
|
| 1 | Central concepts of economics. |
| 2 | Demand, supply and market equilibrium. |
| 3 | Demand and consumer behavior. |
| 4 | Analysis of costs. |
| 5 | Overview of macroeconomics. |
|
COURSE OUTLINE
|
| Week | Topics |
| 1 | Introduction and Syllabus Review: An introduction of each topic which will be lectured during the semester weeks, also the material needed and the requirements to succeed the course. |
| 2 | Chapter 1: The Central Concepts of Economics: In this week the topics explained are related to - Why Study Economics?, The Three Problems of Economic Organization, Society’s Technological Possibilities. (page 3-44) |
| 3 | Chapter 3: Basic Elements of Supply and Demand: This lecture is dedicated to the analysis of supply and demand which shows how a market mechanism solves the three problems of what, how, and for whom. A market blends together demands and supplies. Demand comes from consumers who are spreading their dollar votes among available goods and services, while businesses supply the goods and services with the goal of maximizing their profits. It includes the study of the Demand and Supply schedule including their equilibrium. (page 45-65) |
| 4 | Chapter 4: Supply and Demand: Elasticity and Applications: Supply and demand can often tell us whether certain forces increase or decrease quantities. But for these tools to be truly useful, we need to know how much supply and demand respond to changes in price. Theoretically and practically will the elasticity of Supply and Demand be studied. (page 65-83) |
| 5 | Chapter 5: Demand and Consumer Behavior: The results of these individual choices are what underlie the demand curves and price elasticities that we met in earlier chapters. This chapter explores the basic principles of consumer choice and behavior. We shall see how patterns of market demand can be explained by the process of individuals’ pursuing their most preferred bundle of consumption goods. We also will learn how to measure the benefits that each of us receives from participating in a market economy. (page 84-100) |
| 6 | Chapter 6: Production and Business Organization: We first explore the fundamentals of production theory, showing how firms transform inputs into desirable outputs. Production theory also helps us understand why productivity and living standards have risen over time and how firms manage their internal activities. (page 107-125) |
| 7 | Chapter 7: Analysis of Costs: This chapter is devoted to a thorough analysis of cost. First we consider the full array of economic costs, including the central notion of marginal costs. Then we examine how business accountants measure cost in practice. Finally, we look at the notion of opportunity cost, a broad concept that can be applied to a wide range of decisions. This comprehensive study of cost will lay the foundation for understanding the supply decisions of business firms. (page 126-143) |
| 8 | Chapter 8: Analysis of Perfectly Competitive Markets: This chapter analyzes the behavior of perfectly competitive markets; these are idealized markets in which firms and consumers are too small to affect the price. The first section shows how competitive firms behave, after which some special cases are examined. The chapter concludes by showing that a perfectly competitive industry will be efficient. (Chapter 8, page 149-168) |
| 9 | Midterm Exam |
| 10 | Chapter 19: Overview of Macroeconomics: This lecture explains the objectives and instruments of macroeconomics. Also analyzes the aggregate demand curve and aggregate supply curve. (page 367-386) |
| 11 | Chapter 20: Measuring Economic Activity: The single most important concept in macroeconomics is the gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the total value of goods and services produced in a country during a year. (page 386-408) |
| 12 | Practical Session |
| 13 | Chapter 29: Unemployment and Inflation: We first explain how the unemployment is measured. The other part will explain the inflation and how it is related with unemployment, Okun's Law. The economic impacts of inflation. (page 589-630) |
| 14 | Practical Session - Review before Final Exam: Sessions of exercises and case discussions, which face to the students the practical side of the lectures. |
| Prerequisite(s): | NA |
| Textbook(s): | Economics, P.A.Samuelson-W.D.Nordhaus , 20th ed., Mc Graw-Hill Ins.,2019 Economics, M. Parkin, Pearson; 12 edition (2015) |
| Additional Literature: | NA |
| Laboratory Work: | NA |
| Computer Usage: | NA |
| Others: | No |
|
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
| 1 | The student will be able to use basic economic concepts and learning of using tools of economics. |
| 2 | The student will be able to identify the economic deciding processes of a rational consumer in ordinal and cardinal consumption theory. |
| 3 | The student will be able to choose the appropriate decision making in the market by consumers and producers. |
| 4 | The student will be able to examine how market, demand, and supply functions as mathematically and theoretically. |
| 5 | The student will be able to prove how economic models can be applied to different markets. |
|
COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
(Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution) |
| No | Program Competencies | Cont. |
| Bachelor in International Marketing and Logistics Management (3 years) Program | ||
| 1 | Identify activities, tasks, and skills in management, marketing, accounting, finance, and economics. | 5 |
| 2 | Apply key theories to practical problems within the global business context. | 5 |
| 3 | Demonstrate ethical, social, and legal responsibilities in organizations. | 5 |
| 4 | Develop an open minded-attitude through continuous learning and team-work. | 5 |
| 5 | Use technology to enable business growth and sustainability. | 5 |
| 6 | Synthesize creativity needed for marketing notion with scientific method and numerical skills, for achieving business sustainability. | 5 |
| 7 | Apply the concepts and structures of modern marketing in global context at private and public sectors. | 5 |
| 8 | Integrate the management of logistics, supply chain and in total operations with corporate goals and strategies. | 5 |
|
COURSE EVALUATION METHOD
|
| Method | Quantity | Percentage |
| Midterm Exam(s) |
1
|
40
|
| Lab/Practical Exams(s) |
4
|
5
|
| Final Exam |
1
|
40
|
| Total Percent: | 100% |
|
ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)
|
| Activities | Quantity | Duration(Hours) | Total Workload(Hours) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 2 | 32 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| Assignments | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Final examination | 1 | 15 | 15 |
| Other | 0 | ||
|
Total Work Load:
|
125 | ||
|
Total Work Load/25(h):
|
5 | ||
|
ECTS Credit of the Course:
|
5 | ||
|
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER
|
|
Concluding the Introduction to Economics course, it's important to reflect on the key principles and concepts that have been covered. Economics, as a study of how societies allocate limited resources, provides a framework for understanding decision-making at both individual and societal level. In conclusion the course has equipped the students with a foundational understanding of how economies operate, both on a small scale (microeconomics) and a large scale (macroeconomics). |