ECON104-26S1 (C) Semester One 2026

Introduction to Microeconomics

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 16 February 2026
End Date: Sunday, 21 June 2026
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 1 March 2026
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 10 May 2026

Description

Scarcity, exchange and trade. Market analysis and policy. Consumer choice theory. Theory of the firm. Imperfect competition. Externalities and public goods.

ECON104 is a 15-point course which can contribute towards the main schedules of the Arts, Science or Commerce degrees. It is designed to provide you with the platform for further successful study in the discipline, but students who stop their formal economics education at the end of ECON104 will still have been exposed to the invaluable analytical skills that the course promotes. This course attempts to answer real world questions that will interest all students, regardless of their intentions.

As a guide, the average student should be spending 10 hours a week on this paper. With three hours of lectures, that leaves seven hours a week for completing tutorials and your own personal revision of lecture notes. You will do MUCH better if you read over the previous lecture and relevant page references from the textbook BEFORE the next lecture. That way each lecture will build on the material you UNDERSTAND from the previous lecture. Simply copying notes in a lecture and not looking at them again before you start revising for an assessment will result in a poor mark. Each lecture will not build on your prior knowledge if
you haven’t understood the prior lectures. You will then have to cram and try to learn all the material prior to assessments. My advice is that every morning you have a lecture, that afternoon read over the lecture notes, make use of the video resources I have provided for you and (if you have the text) the page references from the textbook, and make sure you understand the material. If you don’t understand an aspect of the material, come to see me and ask for further clarification.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to 'think like an economist', and apply basic economic principles such as the role incentives play in people's behaviour.
2. Students will understand the concept of market efficiency, and will be able to analyse the impact of government policies.
3. Students will be able to identify and evaluate occasions when markets function best without direct government involvement.
4. Students will be able to identify and evaluate occasions when markets left on their own are unlikely to result in the best outcomes, and discuss the role of government in these markets.
5. Students will be able to use the theories of economics to describe and explain the behaviour of people and firms.

Restrictions

Timetable 2026

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 10:00 - 11:00 C1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
02 Tuesday 13:00 - 14:00 K1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 10:00 - 11:00 C1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
02 Wednesday 13:00 - 14:00 A1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
Lecture C
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 10:00 - 11:00 C1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
02 Friday 13:00 - 14:00 A1 Lecture Theatre
16 Feb - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 15:00 - 16:00 Ernest Rutherford 460
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
02 Thursday 11:00 - 12:00 Rehua 702
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
03 Thursday 12:00 - 13:00 Rehua 702
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
04 Tuesday 12:00 - 13:00 Meremere 105 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
05 Tuesday 14:00 - 15:00 Psychology - Sociology 252 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
06 Monday 09:00 - 10:00 Beatrice Tinsley 112
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
07 Monday 10:00 - 11:00 Jack Erskine 446
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
08 Monday 16:00 - 17:00 Jack Erskine 340
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
09 Thursday 13:00 - 14:00 A6 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
10 Thursday 14:00 - 15:00 Karl Popper 105
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
11 Wednesday 08:00 - 09:00 Jack Erskine 244
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
12 Wednesday 08:00 - 09:00 Jack Erskine 441
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
13 Tuesday 09:00 - 10:00 Ernest Rutherford 460
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
14 Monday 14:00 - 15:00 Rehua 702
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
15 Friday 09:00 - 10:00 Karl Popper 612
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
16 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 E14 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
17 Friday 09:00 - 10:00 Psychology - Sociology 252 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
18 Friday 11:00 - 12:00 A8 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
19 Friday 15:00 - 16:00 A7
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
20 Friday 14:00 - 15:00 A8 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
21 Thursday 15:00 - 16:00 Rehua 002 Lectorial
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
22 Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00 Rehua 702
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
23 Friday 14:00 - 15:00 Psychology - Sociology 252 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
24 Thursday 09:00 - 10:00 Psychology - Sociology 116
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
25 Wednesday 14:00 - 15:00 James Logie 104
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
26 Monday 13:00 - 14:00 Meremere 105 Lecture Theatre
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
27 Monday 15:00 - 16:00 Rehua 101 Lectorial
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
28 Wednesday 09:00 - 10:00 Rehua 427 Technology Workshop
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May
29 Friday 12:00 - 13:00 Ernest Rutherford 460
2 Mar - 29 Mar
20 Apr - 31 May

Examinations, Quizzes and Formal Tests

Test A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 C1 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
02 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 C2 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
03 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 C3 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
04 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 A1 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
05 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 K1 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
06 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 Meremere 108 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
07 Friday 19:00 - 20:30 Meremere 105 Lecture Theatre
16 Mar - 22 Mar
Test B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 C1 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
02 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 C2 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
03 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 C3 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
04 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 A1 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
05 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 K1 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
06 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 Meremere 108 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May
07 Thursday 19:00 - 20:30 Meremere 105 Lecture Theatre
4 May - 10 May

Course Coordinator

Stephen Hickson

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Tutorial Attendance & Participation 10%
Online Progress Test One 5%
On-Campus Term Test One 25%
Online Progress Test Two 5%
On-Campus Term Test Two 25%
Final Exam 30%

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Parkin, M., & Bade, R; Microeconomics ; Pearson, Australia, 2016.

Some very readable books which give a very good introduction to the key ideas in economics include:
"New Ideas from Dead Economists" by Todd Buchholz
"The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford
"Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,003.00

International fee $4,538.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Department of Economics and Finance .

All ECON104 Occurrences