MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS

ECONOMICS 608

Spring 2009

Monday 6:00- 8:50 PM

Instructor Information:

Instructor: Dr. Vereda Johnson Williams

Office: 145 Merrick Hall

Office Hours: Monday 4:00-6:00, Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-12:30

Office Telephone: 336-334-7188 ext. 2008

E-Mail: kingvj@ncat.edu

Course Goals & Objectives:

Managerial economics is concerned with resource allocation, strategic, and tactical

decisions that are made by analysts, managers, and consultants in the private, public, and

not-for-profit sectors of the economy. Managerial techniques seek to achieve the

objectives of the organization in the most efficient manner while considering both

explicit and implicit constraints on achieving the objectives. The major emphasis is to

provide the analytical tools and managerial insights essential to the analysis and solution

of those problems that have significant economic consequences, both for the firm and for

society at large.

Textbook: Managerial Economics: Applications, Strategy, and Tactics, McGuigan,

Moyer, & Harris, 11th

edition, South-Western.

Class Email List:

I will use the class email list that is available through Blackboard to make general

announcements about course material or assignments, and/or to respond to questions of

general interest. If you do not regularly use your official University email address, please

make sure that you update your forwarding address on the University system so that

email reaches you in a timely manner. Also, please make sure that your email mailbox is

not "over quota" so that emails to you are not bounced back.

Attendance:

After the first class meeting, students are expected to read assignments in the textbook in

advance. Students are expected to attend class regularly and to know the assigned

material even if time does not permit discussion of it all in class. Also, students are

responsible for any additional material that may be discussed in class (e.g., newspaper

articles, case problems, exercises, etc.) that is not specified in the textbook assignments.

Exams and Grading:

There will be two scheduled exams including the final, 2 group presentations on

problems, several homework assignments and a Microeconomic Research Project. Exams

will generally consist of short-answer objective questions and analytical problems.

Overall grades for this course will be determined based upon the following weights:

Exam 1 Chapters 1-4 and 7 wt. = 20%

Exam 2 Chapters 8, 10-12 (Final) wt. = 20%

Group Problem Presentation 1 wt. = 10%

Group Problem Presentation 2 wt. = 10%

Microeconomic Research Project wt. = 25%

Homework Problems wt. = 15%

University policy prohibits giving extra credit or incomplete's for failing work.

Economic Research Project:

For your individual economic research project, you will select company. You will make

use of learned microeconomic tools to analyze the company. You must familiarize

yourself with the trading room and the software (FACTSET). You will receive more

details regarding this project. The following are some general requirements regarding the

project.

Length: your paper should be 7-10 pages, excluding the title page and references. If the

paper is double-spaced, it should be closer to 10 pages.

You must use the Web and other sources, such as textbooks, journals,

newspapers, and so on, for information. You must use at least five (5) sources,

and at least one must be a Web source.

The information in your textbook on your topic is only a starting point. Your

paper must contain new information on the topic. This is a research paper, not a

repeat of what is in the text.

Your paper should be typed (make it pretty), with a title page, and you must use

standard bibliographic form (use any style guide you like).

Footnotes are required (you may use endnotes instead). If you are using someone

else's thoughts, paraphrase them or put the words in quotes and give the author

credit in a footnote or endnote. If you are caught plagiarizing, you will receive a

zero for the paper. You might try signing up for and submitting your paper to

Turnitin.com in order to see how easy it is for your teachers to catch plagiarism.

Because effective communication is an important component of success in the

business world, papers with poor grammar and spelling will lose credit. Also, late

papers will be reduced by one letter grade.

Graduate students enrolled in this course are expected to meet expectations

beyond that of the undergraduate student. I am expecting the following from

you:

1. Minimum page length 15 pages

2. At least 10 references

3. Statistical inferences and projections

4. Full documentation from the company’s 10k and annual reports

5. Advanced FACTSET Analysis and interpetations

University Grade Change Policy:

Once course grades are submitted, they are final and will not be changed except in cases

of administrative error. Grades will not be changed by allowing the student to do

additional work (e.g., retaking exams, redoing papers; submitting extra credit papers,

reports, etc.) or by using criteria other than those applied to all students in the class.

Missed Exams:

Students will be granted an excused absence for a scheduled exam only if they contact

me in advance or as soon as possible afterward and provide written documentation of the

extenuating circumstances that necessitated absence from the exam. Extenuating

circumstances are generally events beyond your direct control of an urgent nature.

TENTATIVE OUTLINE: MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS*

Class

Meeting

Jan 12 Chapter 1: Introduction

Jan 26 Chapter 2: Fundamental Economic Concepts

Suggested Problems:

The selection of your company for the Microeconomic Economic Project

including the Ticker Symbol is due.

Feb 2 Chapter 3: Demand Analysis

Suggested Problems:

Feb 9 Trading Room Training

Feb 16 Group Problem Presentations

Feb 23 Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Estimation of Demand

Suggested Problems

Mar 2 Spring Break

Mar 9 Chapter 7: Production Economics

Suggested Problems

Mar 16 Exam 1 Chapters 1-4 and 7

Mar 23 Chapter 8: Cost Analysis

Suggested Problems

Mar 30 Group Problem Presentations

Apr 6

Chapter 10: Prices, Output, and Strategy: Pure and Monopolistic Competition

Suggested Problems

Microeconomic Research Project is due.

Apr 13 Chapter 11: Price and Output Determination: Monopoly and Dominant Firms

Suggested Problems

Apr 20 Chapter 12: Price and Output Determination: Oligopoly

Suggested Problems:

Apr 27 Exam 2 Chapters 8, 10-12 (Final)

* Note: This outline may be revised, as needed, during the academic semester.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLASS PROBLEMS RUBRIC:

All class problems will be graded on a 10 point scale as follows:

10 = excellent, generally all but the most minor points are correct

9 = very good, but missed 1 or 2 minor points

8 = good, but missed at least 1 major point or several minor points

7 = marginally acceptable, but missed more than 1 major point, and/or

numerous minor points

6 = poor, missed most of the major points or ideas

There will be no make-up for missed problems. At the end of the term, an

overall average for the problems will be calculated based on the total points

earned for all problems divided by the total possible points.

Interactive Quizzes:

The textbook Internet site is at http://mcguigan.swcollege.com . Available on this site

are interactive quizzes for each chapter which may be useful as you study.