University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration

                                    University of Pittsburgh
                        College of Business Administration
                                                 SUMMER 2018

BUSECON 1010 - Business economics

Teacher:	Stanko Racic	Office:	282 Mervis Hall 412-648-1522 (Office hours)
Place:	118E Mervis Hall	Office Hours:	M Th 5:15-6:00 PM
Time:	H 6:00-9:15pm
Web:	www.pitt.edu/~stanko/busecon/	E-mail:	stanko@katz.pitt.edu

Required Text
Lila J. Truett and Dale B. Truett, Managerial Economics, 8th Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Recommended Material
Lila J. Truett and Dale B. Truett, Managerial Economics: Study Guide,
(One copy of the new and two copies of the old edition are on reserve in Hillman Library.)

Course Prerequisites
ECON 0100 - Microeconomics                   ECON 0110 - Macroeconomics
MATH 0120 - Business Calculus

Course Objective
Business Economics is an intermediate-level applied economics course. The objective of the course is to
help students understand how economic principles can be applied to management decisions. In addition
to developing economic tools and concepts used in the decision making process, the course provides an
understanding of the various market structures in which an enterprise may operate.

Studying Strategies
Try to read the assigned material before the class. If lecture does not clear your questions from reading the
book, see me. Make the help sheet for the chapter before doing the homework. Update the help sheet
if it is not sufficient to do the homework problems. Combine updated help sheets for different chapters into
help sheet for the exam. Practice exam will give you an idea about the type of questions to expect
on the exam. Past students found the Study Guide to be very helpful, especially the solved problems
and self testing multiple choice questions. I would recommend that you work in study groups.

Students with Disability
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to
contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 216 William Pitt Union,
(412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible. DRS will verify your disability and determine
reasonable accommodations for this course.

Grading
Homework: 8 assignments, due at the beginning of indicated classes, worth 5% of your grade
Your effort, rather than whether the solution is correct, will be graded. Try to solve the problems, but
do not spend too much time on them if you have difficulties. All solutions are on the course web site.
If you cannot figure out how to do the problems, given the solutions, ask at the beginning of the class
when homework is due or please see me and I will help you with the problem.

Quizzes: 6 best of 7, 10 multiple choice questions each, worth 20% of your grade
Questions will be similar to the multiple choice questions from the Study Guide.

Exams: midterm & cumulative final (both closed book) worth 30% and 45% of your grade
Exams will have conceptual questions, similar to quizzes, and problems, similar to homework assignments.
Final will be weighted more heavily toward material not included on the midterm. You may bring one 8½x11
help sheet for each exam. You can put what ever you want on the help sheet. Makeup exams will be
provided only due to an unforeseen event. I have to be informed no later than 24 hours after the missed
exam. Documented confirmation will be required. Cell phones are not allowed during exams and will result
in zero points for that exam, without exceptions.

No extra credit is available. Cumulative scores will be calculated using the appropriate weights for number
of homework assignments submitted, and performance on quizzes and exams. Percentage grades, calculated
by dividing individual scores by the highest score in the class, will be translated into letter grades as follows:
                100   -97 = A+      89.9-87 = B+      79.9-75 = C+      64.9-60 = D+     49.9-0 = F
                  96.9-93 = A        86.9-83 = B         74.9-70 = C        59.9-55 = D
                  92.9-90 = A-       82.9-80 = B-        69.9-65 = C-      54.9-50 = D-

Preliminary Grades

Course Outline

Date	Topic		Homework	Quiz
May 17	Chp 1 Chp 2	Introduction (20-29) Revenue of the Firm (40-58)
May 24	Chp 1 Chp 2	Introduction (20-29) Revenue of the Firm (40-58)	Redo: Fig 1-2 & Examples in Math App (pp 692-702)
May 31	Chp 2	Revenue of the Firm (58-77)	Chp 1: 4, 5 Chp: 2: 3 Redo: Equilib & Price Reg	Chps 1 & 2
June 7	Chp 5	Theory of Production	Chp 2: 6,10,C3,C6,C7	Chp 2
June 14	Chp 6	Cost of Production	Chp 5: 4,8,9,12,C4,C6	Chp 5
June 21	Chp 7 Chp 8	Profit Analysis of the Firm Perfect Competition and Monopoly Review for the Midterm Exam	Chp 6: 4,7,10,11,C1,C4	Chp 6
June 28		Midterm Exam (Chp 1, 2, 5, 6 and Equilibrium & Price Regulation)
July 5	Chp 9	Monopolistic Competition	Chp 7: 3,4,C1,C4,C6 Chp 8: 2,3,8,C3,C6,C7	Chps 7 & 8
July 12	Chp 11	Topics in Pricing (skip Transfer)	Chp 9: 3,5,8,C1,C5,C6	Chp 9
July 19	Chp 10	Game Theory Review for the Final Exam	Chp 11: 6,7,C1,C6 Suggested Chp 10: 1,2,3	Chp 11
July 26		Cumulative Final Exam (Regular Time and Classroom)