Microeconomics

Microeconomics

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Core Specialized Courses

Graduate School of Social Sciences

All

KCWMS5MCA1

2.00Credits

講義 (Lecture)

Fall semester 2026

(Fall semester)

Shigeki ISOGAI

社会科学研究科

English

1／2／3

By appointment

To be announced in the first class

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4◎／5〇

N/a

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Course Objectives:
The course aims to provide students with expertise in microeconomic theory. We cover standard topics appropriate to graduate studies.

Learning Outcome:
The students will be able to understand the ideas and concepts of microeconomics. The (somewhat ambitious) goal is that students will be able to read academic papers published in internationally renowned journals.

Subtitle of the Class:
Learning microeconomic framework for professionals.

Keywords of the Class:
Microeconomics, Price theory, Game theory

Microeconomics is a field of economics that studies how each individual makes economic decisions and then how those individual behaviors affect the economy. It also provides us with a tool to analyze various social phenomena in a logically consistent way. Such knowledge in economics is widely applied to economic policies and businesses in some countries such as the U.S. (and recently in Japan). For example, studying markets provides us with insights on how to regulate markets; game theory is a useful tool to analyze various situations encountered in business settings and is sometimes directly applied to gain profits in some business fields.

The course covers standard topics in microeconomics, i.e. price theory and game theory.

The tentative schedule is as follows:
Week 1: Introduction and preliminaries
Week 2: Consumer theory (1)—Preference and utility representations
Week 3: Consumer theory (2)—Utility maximization and demand function
Week 4: Consumer theory (3)—Expenditure minimization, duality, and welfare measurement
Week 5: Producer theory—Profit maximization and supply function
Week 6: Market analysis (1)—Partial equilibrium and general equilibrium
Week 7: Market analysis (2)—Welfare theorems
Week 8: Decision under uncertainty—Expected utility and its applications
Week 9: Game theory (1)—Examples and various formulations of games
Week 10: Game theory (2)—Nash equilibrium
Week 11: Game theory (3)—Subgame-perfect equilibrium
Week 12: Game theory (4)—Repeated games
Week 13: Game theory (5)—Incomplete-information games
Week 14: Game theory (6)—Signaling game
Week 15: Final Exam

The standard topics and tools of microeconomics are covered. The first 7 courses cover the so-called price theory. Price theory is a "ripe" field and will be a useful tool for students' future research. The latter half studies relatively recent fields of decision under uncertainty and game theory. They are important research fields in recent developments in microeconomics and will give students insights and interests.

In-person

①In-person
・In-person classes only
・Not subject to the cap on distance-education credits

Fully permitted

In this course, the use of generative AI is fully permitted. Appropriate use of gen AI is even encouraged.
Please pay attention to the contents described in "Guidelines on the Use of Generative AI in Education at the University of Hyogo (For Students)".

Additional instructions based on the current state of the AI will be provided in the first class.

The lecture notes are provided by the instructor.

The standard graduate textbooks are
Mas-Colell, Whinston, and Green, "Microeconomic Theory"
Hal Varian, "Microeconomic Analysis"

If the textbooks above are tough, the student can also consult 
Hal Varian, "Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach,"

For game theory, the following textbooks are also recommended
Steven Tadelis, "Game Theory: An Introduction," and
Robert Gibbons, "Game Theory for Applied Economists."

[Preparation] Reading the lecture notes beforehand (30h)
[Review] Checking your understanding of the course materials (30h)

Due to the nature of a theoretical course, hours for "explicit" active learning are not reserved (e.g. group activity or discussion). However, any questions and spontaneous discussions from students are always welcome.

The evaluation is based on the understanding of the economic and related mathematical framework. It will be measured by the final exam.

The course materials (such as lecture notes and review exercises) will be provided through the instructor's website.
Comments to final exam and the way exam scores are disclosed are going to be announced through the university system.

While the instructor understands the diversity of the academic background of the students, the class must achieve a certain academic goal that is appropriate for graduate studies. The students are strongly recommended to prepare for the mathematical preliminaries before they take the course and are encouraged to review each class's material very well.

Not applicable.