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Aims: To give students an understanding of the power and limitations of the theoretical constructs used to interpret human behaviour in economics, as brought to bear on observed consumption behaviour; to enable them to critically evaluate policies targeted at individuals, both in terms of their theoretical basis and of their practical importance, and to recognise the importance of measurement in the design and evaluation of policy and the challenges it poses. We will build upon the core material learned in the first two years of the BSc (Econ) Economics degree programme to further study problems pertinent to our understanding of individual choices, to their measurement, and to the design and evaluation of policy.

This module will meet your interests if you enjoyed the core microeconomics course, if you were intrigued by the Slutsky equation, if you enjoy spending hours with a piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser, deriving the formula of elasticities for different functional forms for demand. ItÌýwill provide you with a challengingÌý course in applied consumer theory, with a lot of reading, some empirical work and a substantial amount of formal derivations.

Suitable For: Final year Economics (L100 / L101 / L102) students. Students from other degree programmes can also take the module if they meet the prerequisite requirements.

Prerequisites: Students should be fluent with the material taught in ECON0013: Microeconomics and ECON0019: Quantitative Methods and Econometrics. Any ofÌýPOLS0008,ÌýPOLS0010, POLS0013 or POLS0012 are also appropriate

Assumed knowledge: In order to be in a position to learn from this module, students choosing the module should be fluent with consumer theory at the level taught in ECON0013 and with the material ECON0019.