2025
Principles of Microeconomics
Name: Principles of Microeconomics
Code: ECN02314L
6 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours
Scientific Area:
Economy
Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese, English
Regime de Frequência: Presencial
Presentation
This UC is an introductory course to Economics, which provides knowledge, principles, concepts and elementary models of economic analysis.
Sustainable Development Goals
Learning Goals
Principles of Microeconomics is an introductory course that emphasizes the principles, concepts, models and analytical instruments of economic theory related to markets, consumers, production systems and market structures. It aims to equip the student with essential knowledge and analytical tools to understand phenomena related to the organization and functioning of markets, consumption decision-making by consumers, efficiency in the production of companies and the behaviour of these agents in different market structures. At the end of the course, students must gather essential skills and knowledge about rules of analysis and concepts of microeconomic theory, the functioning of markets and the behaviour of economic agents, and about market structures of perfect competition and monopoly. They must have the ability to develop a coherent reflection and discourse on these economic topics.
Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Economics as a science
1.2 The economic problem: scarcity and choice
1.3 Societys technological possibilities
1.4 Review of mathematical tools and graphical analysis
1.5 The economic circuit
2. Model of Supply and Demand - Introduction
2.1 Market
2.2 Demand curve
2.3 Supply curve
2.4 Joint analysis of supply and demand
2.5 Government intervention in the market
2.6 Consumer surplus and producer surplus
3. Consumer behaviour
3.1 Utility and preferences
3.2 Static equilibrium of the consumer
3.3 Changes in income and prices: impact on consumer choices
4 Firm's production and organization
4.1 Basic concepts
4.2 Production
4.3 Costs
4.4 Firms decision: optimal combination of factors
5. Markets
5.1 Perfect Competition
5.2 Monopoly
1.1 Economics as a science
1.2 The economic problem: scarcity and choice
1.3 Societys technological possibilities
1.4 Review of mathematical tools and graphical analysis
1.5 The economic circuit
2. Model of Supply and Demand - Introduction
2.1 Market
2.2 Demand curve
2.3 Supply curve
2.4 Joint analysis of supply and demand
2.5 Government intervention in the market
2.6 Consumer surplus and producer surplus
3. Consumer behaviour
3.1 Utility and preferences
3.2 Static equilibrium of the consumer
3.3 Changes in income and prices: impact on consumer choices
4 Firm's production and organization
4.1 Basic concepts
4.2 Production
4.3 Costs
4.4 Firms decision: optimal combination of factors
5. Markets
5.1 Perfect Competition
5.2 Monopoly
Teaching Methods
The in-person sessions are theoretical and practical, combining a teaching component through theoretical presentation of the program's topics, accompanied by a strong empirical dimension with examples and application to concrete cases, and a more learning-focused component through practical exercises.
The teaching and learning method includes:
- Theoretical presentation of the subject in the classroom with PowerPoint slides;
- Use of the internet and e-learning tools;
- Practical application exercises;
- Presentation and discussion of real-world examples from companies and markets;
- Availability of all slides and study materials on the Moodle platform;
Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In this course, the use of AI tools is permitted to support learning, literature review, and the creation of educational materials, provided that the student critically validates all information and maintains human control over the content produced. However, there are unacceptable uses of AI because they constitute an ethical and academic violation that will be sanctioned.
Acceptable uses:
- Support for technical writing and review of reports.
- Support for data analysis or hypothesis formulation, with manual verification.
- Support in structuring scientific texts and educational materials.
- Synthesis and organization of scientific evidence, with source confirmation.
- Linguistic or formatting support.
Unacceptable uses:
- Fabrication of references or citations without verification.
- Submitting reports, code, or results produced entirely by AI.
- Displaying data, equations, or references generated without verification.
- Using AI in assessments or exams without faculty authorization
Misuse will be classified as academic fraud under Article 119 of the Academic Regulations (Code of Conduct, Fraud and Plagiarism).
The teaching and learning method includes:
- Theoretical presentation of the subject in the classroom with PowerPoint slides;
- Use of the internet and e-learning tools;
- Practical application exercises;
- Presentation and discussion of real-world examples from companies and markets;
- Availability of all slides and study materials on the Moodle platform;
Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In this course, the use of AI tools is permitted to support learning, literature review, and the creation of educational materials, provided that the student critically validates all information and maintains human control over the content produced. However, there are unacceptable uses of AI because they constitute an ethical and academic violation that will be sanctioned.
Acceptable uses:
- Support for technical writing and review of reports.
- Support for data analysis or hypothesis formulation, with manual verification.
- Support in structuring scientific texts and educational materials.
- Synthesis and organization of scientific evidence, with source confirmation.
- Linguistic or formatting support.
Unacceptable uses:
- Fabrication of references or citations without verification.
- Submitting reports, code, or results produced entirely by AI.
- Displaying data, equations, or references generated without verification.
- Using AI in assessments or exams without faculty authorization
Misuse will be classified as academic fraud under Article 119 of the Academic Regulations (Code of Conduct, Fraud and Plagiarism).
Assessment
The assessment for this course comprises the following options:
1) Continuous assessment regime, which includes:
- Attendance of at least 75% of the classes;
- The completion of three individual written assessment tests.
The final grade will be the simple average of the results obtained in the three tests.
2) Final assessment regime, which includes:
- Completion of an individual written exam at the end of the semester, the score of which corresponds to the final grade.
If deemed necessary to verify the extent to which the student has developed the knowledge and skills expected for the course unit, the teaching staff may call the student for an oral examination, in accordance with paragraph 13 of article 110 of the Academic Regulations of the University of Évora, ensuring the conditions set out in paragraph 4 of article 116 and paragraph 1 of article 118 of the same Regulations. The oral examination will account for 50% of the final grade for the course.
1) Continuous assessment regime, which includes:
- Attendance of at least 75% of the classes;
- The completion of three individual written assessment tests.
The final grade will be the simple average of the results obtained in the three tests.
2) Final assessment regime, which includes:
- Completion of an individual written exam at the end of the semester, the score of which corresponds to the final grade.
If deemed necessary to verify the extent to which the student has developed the knowledge and skills expected for the course unit, the teaching staff may call the student for an oral examination, in accordance with paragraph 13 of article 110 of the Academic Regulations of the University of Évora, ensuring the conditions set out in paragraph 4 of article 116 and paragraph 1 of article 118 of the same Regulations. The oral examination will account for 50% of the final grade for the course.
Accreditations and Certifications
