Adama Science and Technology University

1 School: Civil Engineering and Architecture Department: Arch.

2 Course Category Common Module
Course Name Introduction to Economics
Course Code: SOSC2002
3 Synopsis: This course provides a general introduction to economics combining elements of micro and macro
fundamentals. The main objective of this course is to introduce and acquaint students with the
preliminary principles (theories) and knowledge of economics and the application of economic theories
(principles) in the actual world; the daily activities of the households, firm business or any other form of
enterprises at micro levels. Students will also able to contextualize the key macroeconomic variables and
policy instruments.
Specifically, the course introduces students with theory of consumer behavior, production, and cost of
production. In these theories how decisions are made by different economic agents will be discussed.
Furthermore, the course covers different characteristics of perfect and imperfect market structure. Lastly
the course tries to introduce basic macroeconomic concepts such as national income accounting,
unemployment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy instruments
4 Name(s) of Dr. Fetene B.
Academic Staff:
5 Semester and Semester: II Year: 3
Year offered:
6 Credit Hour: 3
7 Prerequisite/ Co- None
requisite: (if any)
8 Course Learning Outcome ( CLO): At the end of the course the student will be able to do:
CLO Describe the major economic units constituting a given society and their corresponding roles
1
CLO Explain the objective functions of consumers and how they attain this objective under resource constraints
2
CLO Define producers‟ objective functions, describe their cost structures in the short and the long run, and apply partial
3 equilibrium approaches to find optimal prices and quantities under different degrees of competition.
CLO Tabulate markets into different categories on the basis of the number of buyers and sellers and outline the various
4 social welfare implications of each market structure.
CLO Understand how aggregate economic measures are constructed, their weaknesses, and alternative measures of
5 national wellbeing
CLO Identify the sources and adverse effects of economic crises and describe the pool of policy instruments that can be
6 deployed to mitigate the consequences of these crises.
Program Learning Outcomes (PO)
Course Assessment
Learning Teaching Methods
Assignm
SO1

SO2

SO3

SO4

SO5

SO6

SO7

SO8

Outcome
Test

Project

report
Quiz

Lab-
ent

L T P O
CLO1 √ √ √ √
CLO2 √ √ √ √
CLO3 √ √ √ √
CLO4 √ √ √ √
CLO5 √ √ √ √
CLO6 √ √ √ √
Indicate the relevancy between the CLO and PO by ticking “√”on the appropriate relevant box
10 Transferable Skills (if applicable)
(Skills learned in the course of study which can be useful and utilized in other settings)
]11 Distribution of Student Learning Time (SLT)
O
C
L

Teaching and Learning Activities Total (SLT)

 Guided learning (F2F) Guided Indepen
Course Content Outline Learnin dent
g Learnin
(NF2F) g

(NF
2F)
L T P O
Chapter 0: Introduction 1 3h 1h 2h 6h
0.1. Definition and meaning of economics 1 30m 10m 20m 1h
0.2. Opportunity and accounting costs 1 1h 10m 20m 1h &30m
0.3. Induction and deduction in economics 1 20m 10m 20m 50m
0.4. Partial and general equilibrium analysis 1 20m 10m 20m 50m
0.5. The economic circular flow model and 1 30m 20m 40m 1h&30m
production possibilities frontier
0.6. Economic systems 20m 30m 20m
Chapter 1: Theory of Consumer Behaviour and 2 9h 4h 8h 21h
Demand
1.1. Theory of demand and Supply 2 2h 1h 2h 5h
1.2. Theory of Consumer Behaviour 2 2h 40m 1h 3h&40m
1.3 The ordinal utility approach 2 3h 1h 2h 6h
1.4 The budget line 2 30m 20m 1h 1h&50m
1.5 Optimum of the consumer 2 30m 30m 1h 2h
1.6. Elasticity of demand 2 1h 30m 1h 2h&30m
Chapter 2 : Theory of Production 3 6h 2h 3h 11
2 .1 Production function 3 2h 30m 20m 2h&50m
2.2. Short run Production Function 3 2h 1h 2h 5h
2.3. Long Run Production Function 3 2h 30m 40m 3h&10m
Chapter 3: Theory of Costs 3 3h 2h 3h 8h
3.1. Definition and types of costs 3 30m 20m 20m 1h&10m
3.2 Short-run costs 3 30m 20m 1h 1h&50m
3.3 Long-run costs. 3 30m 20m 30m 1h&20m
3.4 Relationship between short run cost and 3 30m 20m 30m 1h&20m
production curves
3.5 Derivation of cost functions from production 3 30m 20m 20m 1h&10m
functions
3.6 Dynamic changes in costs- the learning curve 3 30m 20m 20m 1h&10m
Chapter 4: Perfect Competition Market 4 4h 3h 3h 10h
4.1 Assumptions of perfect competitive market 4 1h 20m 30m 1h&50m
4.2 .Demand and revenue function in Perfectly 4 30m 1h 1h 2h&30m
competitive market
4.3 Competitive markets, short- run equilibrium of 4 1h&30m 1h 1h 3h&30m
the firm, industry, and market
4.4 The long-run equilibrium of the firm, industry 4 1h 40m 30m 2h&10m
and market
Chapter 5: Pure Monopoly Market 4 3h 3h 3h 9h
5.1 Characteristics and source of monopoly 4 30m 20m 20m 1h&10m
5.2 Short run and long-run equilibrium 4 1h 1h 1h 3h
5.3 Price discrimination 4 50m 50m 50m 2h & 30m
5.4 Multi-plant monopolist 4 40m 50m 50m 2h&20m
Chapter Six: Monopolistic Competition 4 3h 2h 3h 8h
6.1. Assumptions 4 30m 20m 30m 1h&20m
6.2. Product differentiation, the demand curve and 4 1h 40m 1h 2h&40m
cost of the firm
6.3. The concept of industry and product „group‟ 4 30m 20m 30m 1h&20m
 6.4 Short-run and long-run equilibrium of the 4 1h 40m 1h 2h&40m
firm excess capacity and welfare loss
Chapter 7: Fundamentals of macroeconomics 5 8h 3h 9h 20h
7.1.The concepts of GDP and GNP 5 40m 30m 1h 2h&10m
7.2.Approaches of measuring national income 5 1h 30m 2h 3h&30m
(GDP/GNP)
7.3. Other social accounts (GNP, NNP, NI, PI 5 1h 30 1h 2h&30m
and DI)
7.4. Nominal versus real GDP 5 40m 10m 30m 1h&20m
7.5. The GDP deflator and the consumer price 5 40m 20 1h 2h
index
7.6. GDP and welfare 5 1h 10m 30m 1h&40m
7.7. The business cycle 5 1h 15m 1h 2h&15m
7.8. Unemployment and inflation 5 1h 20m 1h 2h&20m
7.9. Policy Instruments 6 1h 15m 1h 2h&15m
Total 39h 20h 34h 93h
Assessment
Continuous Assessment Percentage 50(%) F2F NF2F SLT

1 Quizzes 10 3h 3h
2 Group Assignments 10 7h 7h
Individual Assignments 10 8h 8h
3 Mid Exam 20 3h 3h
Total 21h
Final Exam Percentage-50 (%) F2F NF2F
Final Exam 50 6h 6h
Grand Total 120 hrs
L = Lecture, T = Tutorial, P = Practical, O = Others, F2F = Face to Face, NF2F = Non Face to Face
Note: indicates the CLO based on the CLO‟s numbering in item 9.
Note h= hour/hours and m=minutes

13 Special requirements and resources to deliver the course (e.g. software, computer lab, simulation room …etc.)-----------------
14 Text book and 1 Acemoglu, D., Laibson, D., & List, J.,(2018). Economics, 2nd Edition, Boston: Pearson
reference: Education.
(note: ensure the 2 C.L.Cole, Micro Economics: year... A Contemporary Approach.
latest edition 3 D.N.Dwivedi, 1997, Micro Economic Theory, 3rdEd., Vikas Publishing
/publication) 4 Ferguson & Gould‟s, 1989, Microeconomic Theory, 6thEd.
5 Hal R. Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, 6thEd.
6 Hubbard, G., & O‟Brien, A.,(2019). Economics, 7th Edition, Boston: Pearson Education.
7 Koutsoyiannis, Modern Microeconomics, edition …., year…
8 Krugman, P., Wells, R.,& Graddy, K.,(2016). Essentials of Economics, 4th Edition, New York:
Worth Publishers
9 Mankiw, G., (2018). Principles of Economics, 8th Edition, Boston:
10 N.Gregory Mankiw, 2007, Macroeconomics 4thedition
11 O'Sullivan, A., Sheffrin, S., & Perez, S.,(2017). Economics: Principles, Applications, and Tools,
8th Edition, Boston: PearsonEducation
12 O'Sullivan, A.,Sheffrin, S.,& Perez, S., (2019). Survey of Economics: Principles, Applications,
and Tools, 8th Edition, Boston: Pearson Education.
13 Parkin, M., (2019). Economics, 13th Edition, Boston: Pearson Education.
th
14 R.S. Pindyck& D.L. Rubinfeld, 2013, Microeconomics, 8 edition
15 Samuelson, P., &Nordhaus, W.,(2009). Economics, 19thEdition, Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.