Applied Microeconomics

  1. Economics of the media

Watch all videos in the Economics of the Media video course, record main points, send notes to instructor.

2. Economics of food and water

Watch videos from parts 3 and 4 of the Development Economics course, record main points, send to instructor.

3. Economics of corruption

Watch videos from parts 13 of the Development Economics course, record main points, send to instructor.

  1. Economics of marriage and divorce

    Readings:

Assignment, answer the following questions:

  1. Based on your readings for this module,  describe with numbers 5 recent trends related to marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and family composition.  What explains each of these trends?
  2. Based on all the readings from this module, make a detailed lists of benefits and costs of marriage. Explain each briefly.
  3. How do economists explain marriage wage premium for men?
  4.  Read Friedman’s chapter on ‘Family’ from the book ‘Law’s Order’. What have you learned about the economics of the family?

5. Economics of crime 

Readings:

Questions

1. How do rational criminals make choices? Explain with examples. Why would a rational individual be more likely to steal from someone they don’t know than from someone they know and like?

2.  How can a potential victim or the government set incentives to reduce crime by increasing the cost of a crime or reducing the benefit.  Give examples of such actions. (from Friedman’s book chapter or other source).

3. From the point of view of a student, consider costs and benefits of cheating. You are deciding whether to buy a final research paper for this course online, or write your own original paper.  Describe your benefits of buying a paper, and your immediate and potential costs. Compare the benefits and costs in term of money.  What factors make students cheat more?  How can a school encourage good behavior and discourage this kind of cheating?

6.   Behavioral economics