Keele Badge

ECO-20046 - Module Specification
Keele Business School
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

ECO-20046 - Intermediate Microeconomics
Coordinator: Shiva Sikdar Tel: +44 1782 7 34372
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 5
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733094

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

ECO-10028, Introductory Microeconomics



Barred Combinations

None


Description for 2025/26

The module provides students with a deeper understanding of how economists analyse decision making by consumers and businesses. The study of markets identifies causes of their functioning under the perfect competition paradigm.

Aims
This module provides students with knowledge of several main topics in microeconomics. By the end of the semester, students should have a firm analytical framework, enabling them to analyse many economic environments, and have the skills to progress to a more advanced study of microeconomics at level 6. Moreover, students should be able to apply many of the theoretical tools they have learned to situations in everyday life.

Intended Learning Outcomes

apply basic ideas of choice, optimisation and equilibrium to the analysis of consumer theory and the theory of the firm: 1
describe and evaluate how markets are presumed to function and in what way markets may be argued to be efficient: 1
describe the nature of externalities and evaluate their effect on economic efficiency
: 1
explain basic intuitive economic reasoning and apply intuitive economic arguments to the analysis of individuals’/firms’ behaviour: 1

Study hours

20 hours lectures
4 hours tutorials
20 hours preparation for tutorials
20 hours preparations for assignment
2 hours exam
84 hours self study


School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Open Book Assessment weighted 100%
Open-book assessment with a 28-hour window
The assessment will be an Open-book Exam where students will have to submit answers (using Word) via Turnitin within 28 hours of the questions being released. The assessment should take about 2 hours to complete and total word count of the exam answers should not exceed 2000 words (+10%) (excluding bibliography and appendices). The assessment will consist of numeric, descriptive and analytical questions – there will be four questions which will be compulsory, and one short-essay question (the latter to be chosen out of two choices).

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025