AGEC 211: Microeconomics (Principles and Applications to Households and Firms)

Overview of Economics. The Economic Problem. Branches of Economics. Overview of Microeconomics: Nature, Use and Limitations. Concept of a Final Good. Concept of an Intermediate Good.  Concept of a Market. The Market Mechanism. Shortage and Surplus in a Market. Effects of Demand and Supply Shift Factors on Equilibrium Quantity and Equilibrium Price. Final Goods Markets. Intermediate Goods Markets. Concept of Elasticity. Supply and Demand Elasticities for Final Goods Markets and Intermediate Goods Markets. Consumer Choice: Utility Curve, Utility Surface, Indifference Curve and Indifference Surface. Rate of Commodity Substitution. Budget Line. Consumer Equilibrium and Derivation of Consumer Demand Curve for Final Goods. Income and Substitution Effects. Producer Choice: Concept of a Production Function. Well-behaved Production Curves and Surfaces. Isoquant Curves and Surfaces. Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution. Production Elasticities. Isocost Curves and Surfaces. Objectives of Producers: Output Maximisation, Cost Minimisation, Profit Maximisation. Equilibrium of the Producer and Factor Demand Curves. Product Supply Curves and Surfaces. The Structure of Markets: Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly and Monopsony. Agricultural Economics as an Applied Discipline. The Structure of Agriculture in Ghana. Government Policy and Agriculture in Ghana.