Economics-For Managers

Economics For Managers : Contents

Detailed Contents

Part I: Microeconomics

Introduction to Microeconomics: Nature and Scope of Economics - Relevance of Microeconomics: Importance of Microeconomic Analysis; Limitations of Microeconomics - Difference between Micro & Macro Economics - Scarcity and Choice: Market Economy; Command Economy; Mixed Economy; Production Possibilities and Opportunity Costs - Production Possibility Curve - Partial Equilibrium and General Equilibrium Analysis: Partial Equilibrium Analysis; General Equilibrium Analysis - Economics and Business.

Theory of Demand and Supply: Demand Theory: Law of Demand; Determinants of Demand; Nature of Demand - Elasticity of Demand: Price Elasticity of Demand; Cross Elasticity of Demand; Income Elasticity of Demand; Advertising and Promotional Elasticity of Demand - Supply Function: Determinants of Supply; Law of Supply - Elasticity of Supply: Types of Supply Elasticity - Equilibrium of Demand and Supply: Effect of a Shift in Supply and Demand; Prices fixed by Law: Maximum Ceiling and Maximum Floor Price.

Consumer Behavior: Choice and Utility Theory: Measurement of Utility; Assumptions of Utility Theory; Total Utility; Marginal Utility - Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: Applications and Uses of Diminishing Marginal Utility - Equi-Marginal Utility: Derivation of Demand Curve - Substitution and Income Effect: Substitution Effect; Income Effect - Indifference Curve: Marginal Rate of Substitution; Budget Constraint; Consumer Equilibrium - Consumer Surplus: Applications of Consumer Surplus.

Production Function: Production Function - Concepts of Product: Total Product; Average Product; Marginal Product - Three Stages of Production - Short-run and Long-run - Technological Change - Returns to Scale - Production with One Variable Output: Diminishing Marginal Returns; Relationship among the Product Functions - Production with Two Variable Output: The Production Isoquant; The Product Isocost; Least Cost Combination; Expansion Path.

Analysis of Costs: Types of Costs: Opportunity Costs; Implicit and Explicit Costs; Economic Costs; Marginal Incremental, and Sunk Costs; Direct and Indirect Costs; Fixed and Variable Costs - Cost and Production Function: Short-run Cost Function; Long-run Cost Functions; Comparison between Long-run and Short-run - Break-even analysis: Merits of Break-even Analysis; Demerits of Break-even Analysis - Shutdown Point - Economies of Scale: Real Economies of Scale; Pecuniary Economies of Scale; Diseconomies of Scale; Economies of Scope.

Perfect Competition: Characteristics of a Perfectly Competitive Market - Supply and Demand in Perfect Competition - Short-run Equilibrium of the Competitive Firm - Long-run Equilibrium of the Competitive Firm - Efficiency of Competitive Markets: Long-run Competitive Equilibrium and Allocative Efficiency; Efficient Output of a Good; Efficiency in Competitive Markets - Effects of Taxes on Price and Output: Imposition of a Lump Sum Tax; Imposition of a Profit Tax; Imposition of a Specific Sales Tax.

Imperfect Competition: Imperfect Competition - Monopoly: Price Discrimination; Types of Price Discrimination; Natural Monopolies - Monopolistic Competition: Product Differentiation; Types of Product Differentiation - Oligopoly: Kinked Demand Curve; Cartel Formation; Price Leadership; Game Theory.

Rent and Wages: Theories of Factor Pricing: Personal Distribution; Functional Distribution; Marginal Productivity Theory of Factor Pricing; Modern Theory of Factor Pricing - Meaning of Rent: Rent as a Differential Surplus; Scarcity Rent; Quasi-rent - Theories of Rent: Ricardian Theory; Modern Theory of Rent - Relationship between Rent and Price: Ricardian Analysis; Modern Analysis - Concept of Wages - Difference between Real wages & Nominal Wages: Nominal Wages; Real Wages - Factors Determining Real Wages - Theories of Wages: Standard of Living Theory of Wages; Bargaining Theory of Wages; Modern Theory of Wages - Wages & Trade Unions: Productivity of Unionized Workers; Limited Supply of Workers.

Interest and Profit: The Concept of Interest: What is Interest; Basic Concepts - Theories of rate of Interest: The Classical Theory of Rate of Interest; Liquidity Preference Theory of Interest - The Concept of Profit: What is Profit; Basic Concepts - Theories of Profit: Traditional Theories; Modern Theories - Profit Policies: Standards of Reasonable Profits; Reasons for Limiting Profits - Economic Progress & Profits.

Forecasting and Decision-making: Economic Forecasting - Demand Forecasting: Expert Opinion; Survey; Market Experiment; Time Series Analysis; Barometric Analysis - Risk and Decision Making: Risk and Uncertainty; Risk and Decision Making; Uncertainty and Decision Making - Capital Budgeting: Capital Budgeting Process; Evaluation of Projects.

Part II: Macroeconomics

Introduction to Macroeconomics: Developments of Macroeconomics - Objective and Instruments of Macroeconomics: Gross Domestic Product; Full Employment; Price Stability; Sustainable Balance of Payments; Economic Growth - Instruments of Macroeconomics Policy: Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; International Trade; Exchange Rate Policy; Prices and Income Policy; Employment Policy - Basic Concepts in Macroeconomics: Stocks and Flows; Equilibrium and Disequilibrium; Statics and Dynamics.

National Income: Circular Flow of Income: Circular Flow of Income in the Two Sector Model without Savings; Circular Flow of Income in the Two Sector Model with Savings; Circular Flow of Income in a Three Sector Economy; Circular Flow of Income in a Four Sector Economy - Factors Affecting the Size of a Nation’s Income - Approaches to National Income: Product Approach; Income Approach; Expenditure Approach - Measures of Aggregate Income: Gross and Net Concepts; Domestic and National Concepts; Market and Factor Cost; Aggregate Income Measures; Nominal and Real GDP; The GDP Deflator; Personal Income; Disposable Income - Difficulties in Measuring National Income - The Uses of National Income.

Consumption and Investment Function: Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand: The Keynesian Aggregate Supply Function; Aggregate Demand - Simple Equilibrium without Government Intervention: Equilibrium with Large-Scale Unemployment - Economy with Government Intervention -Three Sector Model: Recessionary Situation; Inflationary Situation - Equilibrium in an Economy with Government Intervention - Four Sector Model.

Classical and Keynesian Economics: The Classical Tradition: Say’s Law of Markets - The Keynesian Revolution: Keynesian Approach Vs Classical Economics - The Monetarist Approach: The History of Monetarism; The Velocity of Money; The Quantity Theory of Prices; Modern Monetarism; Comparison of Monetarist and Keynesian Approaches - Neo-Classical Macro Economics: Rational Expectation - Supply-Side Economics: Factors Determining Economic Growth in Supply-side Economics; Criticism.

Fiscal Policy and Budget Deficit: Objectives of Fiscal Policy: Mobilization of resources; Economic Development and Growth; Reduction of Disparities of Income; Expansion of Employment; Price Stability - Constituents of Fiscal Policy: Public Expenditure; Taxation; Public Borrowing - Fiscal Policy and Efficiency Issues: Fiscal Policy and Stabilization; Automatic Stabilizers; Discretionary Fiscal Policy - Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth; Budget Deficit and Debt: What is Budget; What is Budget Deficit; What causes Budget Deficit; What is National Debt - Government Budgetary Policy: Part-A General Economic Survey; Part-B Tax Proposals - Limitations of Fiscal Policy: Lags in Fiscal Policy; Problems in Tax Policy; Burden of Public Debt.

Monetary Policy: Objectives of Monetary Policy: Price Stability; Exchange Stability; Full Employment and Maximum Output; High Rate of Growth - Relevance of Monetary Policy - Instruments of Monetary Policy: Open Market Operations; Bank Rate Policy; Reserve Requirement Changes; Selective Credit Control - Problems in Monetary Policy: Lags in Monetary Policy; Pressure of Financial Intermediaries; Contradictions in Objectives; Underdeveloped Nature of Money and Capital Markets - Monetary Targeting: Relevance of Monetary Targeting - Monetary Policy in a Developing Economy: Monetary Policy in India - Monetary Policy in an Open Economy: Reserve Flows; The Role of the Exchange Rate System; The Foreign Desk - Link between Fiscal and Monetary Policy.

Inflation: Types of Inflation - Sources of Inflation: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply; Demand Pull Inflation; Cost Push Inflation - Measuring Inflation: Wholesale Price Index - Economic Impact of Inflation: Effect of Inflation on the Distribution of Income and Wealth; Effect of Inflation on Production - Philips Curve - Measures to Control Inflation: Monetary Measures; Fiscal Measures; Other Measures.

Banking and Money Supply: Indian Financial System - The Banking System: Accepting Deposits; Lending Money; Classification of Loans; Remittance Business - Money Supply - Components of Money Supply: The Measures of Monetary Aggregates - The Money Multiplier Approach: The Balance Sheet or the Structural Approach - Creation of Money and Banking System: Commercial Banks-Balance Sheet; Credit Creation; Multiple Expansion; Determinants of Money Supply; The Behavior of the Public; The Behavior of Commercial Banks; Influence of the Reserve Bank; Other Factors - Equilibrium in Money Markets: Changes in Equilibrium; Financial Development.

International Trade and Balance of Payments: Basis of International Trade: Theory of Absolute Advantage; Theory of Comparative Advantage; Heckscher-Ohlin Theory; Imitation-Gap Theory; International Product Life Cycle Theory - Barriers to International Trade: Tariffs; Non Tariff Barriers - Trends in International Trade: Closed Economy; Open Economy; Economic Integration; Forms of Economic Integration - Balance of Payment and its Components - Causes and Types of

Disequilibrium in BoP - Measures to Correct Disequilibrium: Monetary Measures; Non Monetary Measures - Exchange Rate Policy: Historic Perspective of Foreign Exchange Rate System; Types of Exchange Rate System - India’s Balance of Payment and Trade Policy: The Crisis of the Early 1990s; Trade Policy.

Economic Indicators: The Concept of Economic Indicator - Features of Economic Indicators: Related to Business Cycle/Economy; Frequency of the Data; Timing - Classification of Economic Indicators: General Indicators; Business Indicators; Consumption Indicators.

Business Cycles: Characteristics of Business Cycles - Theories of Business Cycles: Multiplier-Accelerator Theory; Demand Induced Cycles; Other Theories - Forecasting Business Cycles - Employment Fluctuations: The Concept of Full Employment; Nature of and Trends in Unemployment in India.

Economic Growth, Development and Planning: The process of Economic Growth: Economic Growth; Measurement of Economic Growth; Determinants of Economic Growth; Economic Growth Theories - Economic Development: Difference between the Concepts of Economic Growth and Economic Development; Elements/Factors Contributing to Economic Development - Economic Reforms in India: Need for Economic Planning; Importance of Economic Planning in India; Economic Reforms Undertaken by the Indian Government; Impact of Economic Reforms in India - Future Economic Scenario in India: Globalization and its Impact; Population Growth; Foreign Exchange Reserves; Financial System in India; Unemployment.