en
Ateneo
en
Ateneo

PhD – Microeconomics

DiSES PhD in Economics

MICROECONOMICS
Coordinator: Dott. Nicola MATTEUCCI
eMail: n.matteucci@univpm.it
Home page: UNIVPM
This course aims at giving PhD students a solid intermediate and upper intermediate treatment of the foundations of microeconomic theory, and to present selected extensions, as a basis for enabling the comprehension of the contemporary developments of the literature. Main topics are consumer and firm’s behavior, market structures and regulation, and partial and general equilibrium analysis.
In detail, the course is divided into the following main modules:
  • Production theory and functional forms
  • Theory of choice
  • Game Theory and Industrial Organization
  • Asymmetric information
  • General equilibrium theory, welfare economics and market failure
While the main emphasis is put on theoretical aspects, some modules also feature empirical applications.
Production theory
Language: English/Italian Frequence: December-February Hours: 16
Professor: Stefano Staffolani eMail: s.staffolani@univpm.it Web: on DiSES
Objectives:
The goal of the course is to prepare students to analyse optimal firm behaviour using the tools of microeconomic theory. The main topics include: technology, production functions, cost minimization, conditional factor demand, unconditional factor demand, profit maximization, supply function. Introduction to market power: monopoly, imperfect competition, mark-up.
Reading List:
Microeconomics Principles and Analysis, by Frank A. Cowell.
Microeconomic Analysis by Hal R. Varian.
Microeconomic Theory by Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green.
Students seeking a math supplement may wish to consult: Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics by Alpha C. Chiang.
Functional forms in microeconomics
Language: English/Italian Frequence: November-March Hours: 6
Professor: Giulio Palomba eMail: g.palomba@univpm.it Web: on DiSES
Objectives:
  • Regular functional forms: Cobb-Douglas, CES.
  • Flexible functional forms: CES nested, translog, Diewert.
Reading List:
G. Palomba, “Forme Funzionali in Microeconomia”, available at http://utenti.dises.univpm.it/palomba/Mat/FunzioniMicro.pdf
 Theory of choice
Language: English/Italian Frequence: February-March Hours: 12
Professor: Alessia Lo Turco eMail: a.loturco@univpm.it Web: on DiSES
Objectives:
Provide the students with advanced analytical tools for the study of choice under certainty and uncertainty.
Reading List:
Hal R. Varian – Microeconomic Analysis.
Andreu Mas-Colell – Microeconomic Theory.
Game theory
Language: English/Italian Frequence: January-April Hours: 9
Professor: Nicola Matteucci eMail: n.matteucci@univpm.it Web: on UnivPM
Objectives:
  • Game theory: An introduction.
  • Strategic behaviour and interdependence.
  • Main types of equilibria and refinements.
  • Simultaneous and sequential games of complete information.
  • Simultaneous and sequential games of incomplete information.
Reading List:
Gibbons R. (1992) A Primer in Game Theory, Prentice Hall.
Osborne, M. (2004) An Introduction to Game Theory, Oxford University Press.
Industrial Organization
Language: English/Italian Frequence: January-April Hours: 16
Professor: Nicola Matteucci eMail: n.matteucci@univpm.it Web: on UnivPM
Objectives:
  • Topics in oligopoly theory.
  • Strategies and market competition.
  • Quantity (Cournot) and price (Bertrand)-based models.
  • Models of horizontal and vertical differentiation.
  • Models with network externalities.
  • Topics in antitrust and market regulation, with a focus on high-tech and communication sectors (broadband and mobile communications, TV, Internet).
Reading List:
Tirole, J. (1988), The Theory of Industrial Organization, The MIT Press.
Selection of scholarly papers.
Lecturers’ notes and slides.
Asymmetric Information
Language: English/Italian Frequence: February-March Hours: 14
Professor: Raffaella Santolini eMail: r.santolini@univpm.it Web: on DiSES
Objectives:
  • An introduction to principal-agent model.
  • Moral hazard models.
  • Adverse selection models.
  • Theory of incentives and political economy.
  • Job market signaling models.
Reading List:
Akerlof, G.A. (1970). The Market for ”Lemons”: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84:488-500.
Laffont J. (2000). Incentives and political economy, New York: Oxford University Press Inf.
Laffont J., Martimort, D. (2002). The theory of incentives: The principal-agent model, Princeton University Press.
Spence, M. (1973). Job market Signaling, The Quarterly Journal of Economics 87:355-374.
Varian, H.R. (2003). Microeconomics Analysis 3rd ed., New York: W.W. Norton C., Inc.
General equilibrium theory, welfare economics and market failure
Language: English/Italian Frequence: January Hours: 12
Professor: Fabio Fiorillo eMail: f.fiorillo@univpm.it Web: at UnivPM
Objectives:
The goal of the course is to prepare students to solve a problem of general equilibrium (positive theory) and to consider its property of optimality. Students have to consider both perfect market equilibrium and market failurs using the tools of microeconomic theory. The main topics include: walras’s equilibrium, walras’s law, pareto optimality, first and second theorem of welfare economics, welfare evaluation, income test, taxation and optimal taxation, public goods and esternalities.
Reading List:
Microeconomic Analysis by Hal R. Varian.
“The incidence of the corporation income tax” by A.C. Harberger (1962) Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 70, No. 3 pp. 215-240