Description

Business Economics – I

 

FY-BAF/BMS/BBI/BFM Semester I

 

Syllabus

 

1. Introduction (10 Lec.)
Scope and Importance of Business Economics – basic tools – Opportunity Cost principle – Incremental and Marginal Concepts. Basic economic relations – functional relations: equations – Total, Average and Marginal relations – use of Marginal analysis in decision making
The basics of market demand, market supply and equilibrium price – shifts in the demand and supply curves and equilibrium

2. Demand Analysis (10 Lec.)
Demand Function – Nature of demand curve under different markets
Meaning, significance, types and measurement of elasticity of demand (Price, income cross and promotional) – relationship between elasticity of demand and revenue concepts
Demand Estimation and Forecasting: Meaning and significance – methods of demand estimation : survey and statistical methods (numerical illustrations on trend analysis and simple linear regression)

3. Supply and Production Decisions
and Cost of Production (15 Lec.)
Production Function: Short run analysis with Law of Variable Proportions – Production function with two variable inputs – isoquants, ridge lines and least cost combination of inputs – Long run production function and Laws of Returns to Scale – expansion path – Economies and Diseconomies of Scale
Cost Concepts: Accounting cost and economic cost, implicit and explicit cost, fixed and variable cost – total, average and marginal cost – Cost Output Relationship in the Short Run and Long Run (hypothetical numerical problems to be discussed), LAC and Learning Curve – Break even analysis (with business applications)

4. Market structure : Perfect competition and Monopoly and Pricing and Output Decisions under Imperfect Competition (15 Lec.)
Short run and long run equilibrium of a competitive firm and of industry – monopoly – short run and long-run equilibrium of a firm under Monopoly
Monopolistic Competition : Equilibrium of a firm under monopolistic competition, debate over role of advertising (topics to be taught using case studies from real life examples)
Oligopolistic Markets : Key attributes of oligopoly – Collusive and non collusive oligopoly market – Price rigidity – Cartels and price leadership models (with practical examples)

5. Pricing Practices (10 Lec.)
Cost oriented pricing methods: cost – plus (full cost) pricing, marginal cost pricing, Mark up pricing, discriminating pricing, multiple – product pricing – transfer pricing
(case studies on how pricing methods are used in business world)