Microeconomics I · Part I

Consumer theory and choice under uncertainty · Master in Economics · Universitat de Barcelona · 2026/27
Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 10:00–12:00 · Room 1030 · 29 September – 28 October 2026
Part II (theory of the firm, general equilibrium) is taught by Olga Chiappinelli from November.
Prepare for the next class

Reading before Class 4 · Wednesday 7 October

  • Mas-Colell, Whinston & Green, sections 2.D and 3.D — the budget set, the utility maximisation problem and Walrasian demand
  • If that is heavy going, Muñoz-Garcia, chapter 2, covers the same ground more slowly.
Last class

Class 3 · Tuesday 6 October

  • Utility representation: continuity, existence, the lexicographic counterexample. Ordinal utility. Quasiconcavity, strict quasiconcavity and concavity. Common utility functions.
  • Slides · Handout
Coming up
Tue 6 OctProblem set 1 (preferences and utility) is handed out; due in class Wednesday 14 October
Wed 14 OctProblem set 1 due — on paper, at the start of class, one copy per group
Wed 14 OctProblem set 2 (utility maximisation, indirect utility, expenditure minimisation) is handed out; due in class Wednesday 21 October
Wed 21 OctProblem set 2 due — on paper, at the start of class, one copy per group
Tue 27 OctProblem set 2 returned, graded
Wed 28 OctPart I exam, in class

Course information

When & where
Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 10:00–12:00 · Room 1030 · 29 September – 28 October
Assessment
Part I exam (Wed 28 Oct) 40 %; two problem sets 5 %; in-class quizzes 5 % — half of the course grade.
details

Part I counts for half of the course grade:

ComponentWhenWeight
Part I examWednesday 28 October, in classWednesday 28 October, in class40 %
Problem sets, groups of 2–5Due 14 October and 21 OctoberDue 14 October and 21 October5 %
In-class quizzes, on paperDuring Part IDuring Part I5 %

To pass by continuous assessment: at least 40 % in every component and at least 50 % overall.

Otherwise: the final exam on Friday 18 December 2026, 10:00–12:00, covers the whole course. Dates and rooms are set by the Master programme and may be updated there.

Reading
Mas-Colell, Whinston & Green, Microeconomic Theory (MWG), chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6; Muñoz-Garcia, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, chapters 1, 2 and 5.
details
  • A. Mas-Colell, M. D. Whinston & J. R. Green, Microeconomic Theory (Oxford University Press, 1995), cited as MWG — the main text. Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6 for Part I; the session plan gives the sections for each class.
  • F. Muñoz-Garcia, Advanced Microeconomic Theory: An Intuitive Approach with Examples (MIT Press, 2017) — the same material at a gentler pace, with worked examples. Chapters 1, 2 and 5.
Problem sets
Two, in groups of 2–5, on paper at the start of class. Problem set 1 due Wed 14 Oct, problem set 2 due Wed 21 Oct.
details

Two problem sets, done in groups of 2–5, handed in on paper at the start of class. One submission per group, with all names on it. Form your group before Wednesday 30 September, when a sign-up sheet goes round in class.

  • Problem set 1 — preferences and utility. Out Tuesday 6 October, due in class Wednesday 14 October.
  • Problem set 2 — utility maximisation, indirect utility, expenditure minimisation. Out Wednesday 14 October, due in class Wednesday 21 October; returned graded Tuesday 27 October.
Quizzes
Short, on paper, in class, at least one a week. Graded from Wed 30 Sep; the lowest score is dropped.
details

Short quizzes on paper during class, at least one a week, on the reading and on what we did in the previous sessions. Closed book, a few minutes each.

  • The quiz in the first class is not graded. It shows me what you already know.
  • Every quiz after the first one is graded.
  • Your lowest quiz score is dropped. There are no make-ups for a missed quiz.
Sextant
Practice app for this course: pkocourek.com/sextant/?c=micro-1. Not graded.
details

Sextant is a study app I built for this course. For each class there are three short sets of questions: one to prepare, one after class, and an optional one that goes deeper. Questions you miss come back later. It works on a phone or a laptop, needs no account, and nothing in it is graded or reported.

Use of AI
None in quizzes and exams. Allowed in the problem sets if the group declares how it was used.
details

Use of AI: none in quizzes and exams. In the problem sets, allowed if the group declares how it was used, in a few lines at the end. Undeclared use is treated as copying.

Contact
pkocourek@ub.edu, any time · office hours Wednesdays 12:00–13:00
details

Office hours: Wednesdays 12:00–13:00, right after class. Students who book by e-mail have priority; up to 20 minutes per student. Questions in class are welcome.

Session plan

Nine lectures and the Part I exam. Each line gives the MWG sections to read for that session. The current topic is open, the others fold.

Preferences and utilityTue 29 Sep – Tue 6 Oct
  1. Tue 29 Sep Class 1Introduction. The consumption set. Binary relations and their properties. Rational preferences: completeness, transitivity.
    MWG 1.B, 2.C · Slides · Handout
  2. Wed 30 Sep Class 2Properties of preferences: monotonicity, strong monotonicity, local non-satiation, convexity, strict convexity. Indifference, upper and lower contour sets. Groups formed
    MWG 3.B · Slides · Handout
  3. Tue 6 Oct Class 3Utility representation: continuity, existence, the lexicographic counterexample. Ordinal utility. Quasiconcavity, strict quasiconcavity and concavity. Common utility functions. PS1 out
    MWG 3.C · Slides · Handout
DemandWed 7 Oct – Tue 20 Oct
  1. Wed 7 Oct Class 4Utility maximisation: budget set, Walrasian demand, Walras’ law, homogeneity, Kuhn–Tucker conditions, corner solutions.
    MWG 2.D, 3.D
  2. Tue 13 Oct Class 5Indirect utility. Wealth and price effects: normal and inferior goods, Giffen goods, substitutes and complements. Roy’s identity.
    MWG 2.E, 3.D, 3.G
  3. Wed 14 Oct Class 6Expenditure minimisation: Hicksian demand, expenditure function, Shephard’s lemma, duality. The true cost-of-living index. PS1 due PS2 out
    MWG 3.E–3.G
  4. Tue 20 Oct Class 7The Slutsky equation and the Slutsky matrix. Summary of the relationships. Compensating and equivalent variation.
    MWG 3.G, 3.I
Choice under uncertaintyWed 21 Oct – Tue 27 Oct
  1. Wed 21 Oct Class 8Uncertainty I: lotteries, the independence axiom, the expected utility theorem and the uniqueness of the vNM utility function. Money lotteries, risk aversion, certainty equivalent, risk premium. PS2 due
    MWG 6.B–6.C
  2. Tue 27 Oct Class 9Uncertainty II: Arrow–Pratt measures, comparing risk aversion, insurance. First- and second-order stochastic dominance, mean-preserving spreads. Review. PS2 returned
    MWG 6.C–6.D
Part I examWed 28 Oct
  1. Wed 28 Oct Part I exam