E630 - Mathematical Economics I
ALL ASSIGNMENTS
Note 1: Some of the file downloads require the password "e630" or "E630
Note 2: You can often find extra copies of course handouts outside my office.
Week 1 HW
- Review the entire syllabus [syllabus - doc]
- Review part 1 of the course outline [outline - pdf]
- Readings:
- Schaum's, chap 4 & 5 (background review chap 1-3, 6-10).
- Silberberg, chap 3 (background review: Chap 1-2).
- Chiang, chap 7 (background review: chap 1-6).
- Problems:
- Complete the "sample exam" for next class [sample1 - pdf]
- Note: If you do not have enough time to complete all the HW problems, turn in as much as possible on Thursday and place the rest in my mailbox (at Carow Hall, NOT Enterprise Hall) before Tuesday, September 12.
Week 2 HW
- Readings:
- Chiang: skim chapter 7, read 8 & 9, skim 10 (and skip 10, 6 & 7), read 11
- Silberberg: read chapters 4 & 5
- Schaum's: Skim chapters 11 & 12
- Nicholson: Read chapter 2 up through the section on the implicit function thm.
- Problems: No new problems, but be sure to review the solutions to the sample exam problems and prepare as best as you can for the actual exam
- Solutions to sample test: [SSol1 - pdf]
Exam #1:
- Exam will be closed book, closed note, standard (non-graphing/non-programming) calculations only.
- Questions will be patterned after sample exam problems, but be sure to also review all material covered in the initial lecture and assigned (summer) readings.
- I will not test you on the precise wording definitions or theorems, but you need to know the key definitions, concepts, theorems, and techniques well enough to put them into practice.
- The exam will be shorter than the sample exam, but it will cover the same basic skills and topics. There will be fewer problems, and in many cases you may be asked to select the correct answer from a list, but you will almost always be asked to show your work. Hence, guessing won't help much, and there will be many opportunities for partial credit.
- You will have the entire class period to complete the test, but I'll try to write an exam that can be finished in 1 to 1.5 hours if you know the material.
Week 3 HW
- Readings: Nothing new, but see the list for Week 2.
- Problems: Do the following problems from the photocopied handout entitled "Problems for Math-Econ, E630"
- 7.1 - parts b & e
- 7.2 - parts d & e
- 7.3 - (This problem refers back to 7.2, so only do it for 7.2 d & e
- 7.4 - part d
- 7.5 - part a (This problem refers bact to 7.4, so only do it for 7.4 d
- 7.7
- 7.8
- 7.9 - parts b & d
- Solutions: [HW2 Solutions - pdf]
Week 4 HW
- Readings: Chiang, chapt 12; Silberberg, chapt 6
- Problems: Redo all the exam problems that you did *not* do correctly
Second version of Exam #1
- This exam will be similar in form and substance to the first version of the exam. See notes above (regarding first version) for details.
- You must take this exam if you received less than 40 points on the first version.
- Recommended review material: "Chap 0" background reading [Math Background Chap 0 - pdf], first version of exam + solutions, sample exam + solutions, all HW problems + solutions.
Week 5 HW
- Required Readings: Chiang, chapters 12 & 13; Silberber, chapters 6 & 7 - carefully read C12 and S6, but for now just skim C13 and S7. Re-read C13 and S7 at least once over the next two or three weeks.
- Recommended Readings: Nicholson, chapters 2-6 - start by just skimming through these chapters, then review them again over the next few weeks.
- Problems from photocopied collection of "Problems for Math-Econ":
- 9.1 b, c, d, e
- 9.2 b, d, and e
- 9.3 b and d
- 9.4 d and e
- Problems from Chiang, chapter 12:
- 12.2-3 (i.e., the third problem in the list of problems for exercise 12.2)
- 12.2-4
- 12.3-4 (note that you are asked to make up a particular type of problem and write out its Hessian and so forth, but you are NOT asked to solve anything!)
- Recommended problems from Silberberg, chapter 6
- Problems 4 and 5
- Note: If you do not have enough time to complete the HW problems, then skip some of them. For example, do 9.1 b, but not 9.1 c, or do 12.3 a but not 12.3 b. But even if you skip some problems, try to complete a "representative" sample of the entire set.
- Solutions: [HW3 Solutions - pdf]
Week 6 HW
- Problems: Chiang, exercise 13.6, all parts.
- Readings: No new readings, but carefully review Chiang 13.5 - 13.6 (for material covered last week) and Chiang 12.6 - 12.7 (for material that will be covered this week).
- Note: Silberberg, chapter 7, covers the same material in the same material, but with more emphasis on the economics and more mathematical sophistication. Nicholson covers most of the same points, in chapters 2 - 5, but with much less mathematical rigor and more geometric intuition.
Week 7 HW
- Readings:
- Read the handout about pos/neg definite matrices, second order conditions, bordered Hessians, etc. Extra copies are outside my office.
- Study the handout on elasticities [elas review - pdf]
- Continue to review the previously assigned readings, especially the assigned sections of Chiang chapters 12 & 13 and Silberberg chapters 6 & 7
- Problems:
- Solve all problems from 2005's first midterm: [Midterm 1 Fall2005 - pdf] [Solutions 1 Fall2005 - pdf]
- Solve problems 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 from 2005's second midterm: [Midterm 2 Fall2005 - pdf] [Solutions 2 Fall2005 - pdf]
- Procedure: Do as much as you can on your own, then review the solutions, then complete or revise your answers and turn in the completed work at the start of class.
***MIDTERM (EXAM #2)***
- Preparation for the Midterm
- See the attached document for advice about readings, topics and so forth. [Midterm Review - doc]
- Print and review the midterms mentioned above, which I gave in E630 *last* year.
Week 8 HW
- Readings:
- Silberberg, chapter 10. (Skim through chapters 8 & 9, especially 8.9, 9.1, and 9.4
- Recommended: Nicholson's chapters on the theory of consumer choice, 2 - 5, especially his discussion of different families of utility functions (C-D, CES, fixed proportions, and linear) as well as his discussion of elasticity of substitution and other elasticity relationships (Slutsky, homogeneity, adding up, etc.)
- Problems:
- TBA
Week 9 HW
- Readings:
- Silberberg, chapters 8 and 9
- Recommended: Nicholson's chapters on the theory of the firm, 7 - 9, especially his discussion of different production functions (C-D, CES, fixed proportions, and linear) and the elasticity of substitutions in chapter 7.
- Problems:
- TBA
Final Exam
- Exam will be closed book, closed noted, standard (non-graphing/non-programming) calculators only.
- Exam will be comprehensive, but material from the first few weeks of the course will receive less attention (excerpt as it required for later material covered later in the course).
- Questions will be patterned after HW problems and midterms, but be sure to also review all material covered in lectures, assigned readings.
- See above for reading assignments, and be sure to have studied the sections of Schaum's, Nicholson, and the photocopied chapters that correspond to the assigned HW problems.
- I will not test you on the precise wording definitions or theorems, but you need to know the key definitions, concepts, theorems, and techniques well enough to put them into practice.
- Course Outline: The following detailed course outline should help you review, organize your notes, etc. [outline - pdf]
- Grading: If you do well on the final, I will give reduced weight to the midterms. (More generally, I will try to assign grades that reflect your skills at the end of the semester, rather than what you happened to know at earlier times.) But, I will not let this flexibility work against you, and I will not give anyone a course grade less than that which they would obtain based on a simple weighted average of all grades. If you completed most of the HW, those scores will almost certainly help raise your grade, through probably not much.)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Collaboration: Students are urged to form study groups to review class material and homework. Collaboration on homework is encouraged, but you must each write up the homework seperately and your own words. Whenever you work with others on HW, you must list their names in parentheses under your own. E.g.: "(worked with: Jane Smith and John Dow)"
Solutions: Keep homework answers brief and to the point, but show your work for all mathematical derivations. All true/false answers require explanations and, where appropriate, well-labeled diagrams or derivations. Neatly write or type your answers on the front sides of standard 8.5 x 11" pages (no messy spiral tear-outs), leave ample margins and space between questions for grader comments, staple all the pages together in the upper left hand corner, and write your name on the upper right hand corner.
