I
Syllabus
M.A. Part (I)
Gr. (I) - Paper I : MICROECONOMICS
1. Consumer Choice
Rational preferences and choice rules-weak axiom of
revealed preference and the proof of the law of demand –
Existence of the utility function and its properties – Marshallian
demand functions and their properties – Duality – Indirect Utility
Function and its properties – Expenditure function and its
properties- Envelop Theorem – Hicksian Demand Function – The
existence of the Neumann- Morgenstern Utility function and its
properties - measures of risk aversion.
2. Production and Distribution
Production: Technology of production – specification of technology
– input requirement set – production function – convex technology
– Leontief technology – Technical rate of substitution – Elasticity of
substitution – Returns to Scale – Efficient production –
Homogenous and Homothetic production function – Cost Function
– envelope theorem for constrained optimisation – Duality of cost
and production Function.
Distribution: Technical Progress – Factor shares – Contributions
of Kalecki and Kaldor.
3. Market Structures
Elements of Game Theory – Normal form and extensive
form games- Nash equilibria - infinitely repeated games and the
folk theorem – sub game perfect Nash equilibria - Bertrand and
Cournot models of Oligopoly – Oligopoly under infinitely repeated
games – Monopoly – price discrimination – Monopoly power –
Games of entry deterrence.
4. Information Economics
Perfect information and first best economy- Complete
contracts – Informational asymmetries and incomplete contracts –
Moral hazard and principal agent problem- Hidden information –
Adverse selection – market for lemons – pooling and separating
equilibrium – Signaling and screening.
5. General Equilibrium and Welfare
Partial and general equilibrium – Walrasian equilibrium:
exchange and production – Core and equilibrium- existence,
uniqueness and stability of equilibrium – Contingent commodities –
Critique of general equilibrium theory – Welfare properties of
general equilibrium: fundamental theorems of welfare economics –
Second best: externalities, public goods, information asymmetries –
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Equity-efficiency trade-off – Measurement of welfare: consumer’s
surplus, compensating variation and equivalent variation.
6. Topics in Applied Microeconomics
Consumer Choice: For example (a) Derivation of Hicksian and
Marshallian demand curves from standard Utility Functions (b)
Applications of rational choice to not standard economic problems:
Fertility analysis, gender economics, analysis of education and
health choices, labour markets etc.
Production Theory: For example (a) Review of empirical studies
estimating the production functions in the Indian context.
Market Structures: For example (a) Issues in regulation (b)
vertical and horizontal integration.
Information Economics: For example (a) Labour markets (b)
Commodity markets (c) Insurance.
General Equilibrium and Welfare: For example (a) Common
property resources and property rights (b) Marginal cost pricing.
References:
1. Chiang A.C.: Fundamental Methods of Mathematical
Analysis, McGraw Hill, 1984.
2. Jehle G.A. and P.J. Rene: Advanced Microeconomics,
Addison Wesley, 1998.
3. Krishna K.L. Econometric Applications in India Oxford
University Press, 1997.
4. Luenberger D.G.: Microeconomic Theory McGraw Hill Inc.,
1995.
5. Mas-Colell A., M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green:
Microeconomic Theory Oxford University Press, 1995.
6. Milgrom R. and J. Roberts, Economics, Organization and
Management, Prentice- Hall, 1992.
7. Rasmusen E.: Games and Information, Blackwell, 1994.
8. Silberberg E.: The Structure of Economics: A Mathematical
Analysis McGraw Hill, 1990.
9. Varian H.R.: Microeconomic Analysis 3rd edition Norton and
company, 1992.
10. Wolsstetter E.: Topics in Microeconomics, Cambridge
University Press, 1999.
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[Link] - I
ECONOMIC PAPER - I
MACRO ECONOMICS
1. Basic Macroeconomics
Income and spending – The consumption function – Savings
and investment – The Keynesian Multiplier – The budget –
Balanced budget : theorem and multipliers. Money, interest and
income – The IS-LM model – adjustment towards equilibrium –
Monetary policy, the transmission mechanism and the liquidity
trap – Basic elements of growth theory : Neoclassical and
endogenous.
2. Behavioural foundations of Macroeconomics
Consumption and savings – Consumption under certainty : The
life-cycle and permanent income hypotheses – Consumption
under uncertainty : The random walk approach – Interest rate
and savings. – Money stock determination - The money
multiplier – instruments of monetary control – Money stock and
interest rate targeting.
3. Dynamic macroeconomics
The dynamic aggregate supply curve – The long-run supply
curve – short and long run Phillips curves – Strategies to reduce
inflation, money, deficit and inflation – The Fisher equation –
Deficits and money growth – The inflation tax, interest rates,
deficit and debt – The instability of debt financing – Structuralist
models of inflation and growth.
4. Open Economy Macroeconomics
The balance of payments and exchange rates – The current
account and market equilibrium – The Mundell-Fleming models :
Fixed and flexible exchange rates. – The automatic adjustment
process – Expenditure switching / reducing policies – Exchange
rate changes and trade adjustments : Empirical issues – the
monetary approach to the balance of payments – The Polak-
IMF model – Flexible exchange rates. Money and prices –
exchange rate overshooting – Interest differentials and
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exchange rate expectations – Exchange rate fluctuations and
policy intervention.
5. The New Macroeconomics
Rational expectations – anticipated and unanticipated shocks –
Policy irrelevance : The Lucas Critique. Real business cycle
theory – Propagation mechanism – The persistence of output
fluctuations – The random walk of GDP : Nelson and Plosser.
Microeconomic foundations of incomplete nominal adjustment –
New Keynesian models of price stickiness : The Mankiw model
– Co-ordination failure models. – The efficiency-wage model-
Implicit contracts-Insider – outsider models – Hysteresis
6. Macroeconomic Policy Issues
Specification of monetary policy – Guidelines for fiscal
adjustment. Fiscal policy rules – Exchange rate policies – Debt
management policies – Policy coordination problems. Some
macroeconomic policy issues. Targets, indicators and
instruments – Activist policy. Lags in the effects of policy –
Expectations, uncertainty and policy – Gradualism versus shock
therapy. The role of credibility – Rules versus discretion – The
dynamic inconsistency problem. The political economy of
stabilization and adjustment.
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M.A. Part – I
Economics Paper - I
Agricultural Economics
1. Demand for Farm Products
Characteristics of demand for farm products-Concept and
measurement of own-price cross-Price and income elasticities
of demand and their interrelationship-Quantity and components
of demand for food-Growth in demand for food in developing
and developed countries-Forecasting of demand for food
products-Rationale for and types of government intervention for
food and nutrition security in developing countries.
2. Supply of Farm Products
Characteristics of supply of farm products-Issues relating to
specification of supply response function (Distributed laps,
acreage vs. production response etc.)- Rigidities in farm supply
response-Supply response of individual crops and aggregate
production-Market supply a subsistence crop-Supply response
in Indian agriculture-Price vs. non-price factors in induction
aggregate supply growth-Characteristics of farm product
markets in India-Role of farmers’ marketingco-operatives-
Futures trading-Towards free trade in agricultural commodities.
3. Economics of Production and Resource Use and Instability
in Agriculture
Resource and input use-Public/private capital formation-
Important production relationships-Economics of input and
product substitution-Imperfections in product and input markets
in developing agriculture-Decision making under risk and
uncertainty-Sources of price variability and income instability-
Rationale for and types of government intervention for price
support and reduction in instability-Alternative concepts of cost
of cultivation and determination of minimum support prices in
India-Role and optimum size of buffer stocks.
4. Rural Money Markets
Credit fragmentation – Organized and unorganized sectors-
Credit rationing-Moral hazards - Evolution of credit systems in
India-Imperfections in rural credit markets in India.
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5. Labour Markets
Concepts of work, skill and productivity-Methods of
measurement of employment and unemployment-Free and
unfree labour -Types of employer-Employee relationships-
Determinants of wage rates – Labour market segmentation-
Gender based discrimination – Biases in data sources – time
disposition studies.
6. Land and Lease Markets
Types of farming-Historical evolution – Segmented property
rights-Characteristics and functioning – Economic, extra-
economic and legal restrictions-Lease market-Formal and
informal leases-Economics of share tenancy-Crop-sharing
practices in India-Inequity in distribution of holdings-Market
interlocking and inter linkages-Analysis of rural classes-Agraian
structure and agrarian relations in India.
REFERENCES :
1. Agarwal, Bina (1996), Women and Land rights in South Asia
(Module 6).
2. American Economic Association ( ), Readings in
Agricultural Economies (Module 1,2)
3. Bardhan, Pranab and Christopher Udry (1999), Development
Microeconomics, Oxford Publication, (Modules 4, 5, 6)
4. Basu, Kaushik (1990), Agrarian Structure and
Underdevelopment, Harwood (Modules 5, 6)
5. Cheung S.N.S. (1969), The Theory of Share enancy.
6. Dantwala M.L. (ed.)(1991), Indian Auricular Development
since Independence, Second Revised Edition, Oxford & IBH
Publishing Co. (General Reference)
7. Ghatak S. (1976), Rural Money Marketing Macmillan Co
(Modul 4)
8. Heady E.O. (1961), Economics of Agriculture Production and
Resource Usa, New Yark Englewood Cliffs Prentice-Hall
(Module 3)
9. K. Subbarao (1989), Agricultural Marketing Credit, ICSSR
(Modules 2,4)
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10. Mellor J. W. (1969), The Economics of Auricular
Development, Vhora & Co. Cernell University Press
(Modules 1, 2)
11. Mies Maria (1986), Indian Women in Sub??????nce and
Agricultural Labour ???? Publication (Module 5)
12. Penson J.B., Capps Orai. Rosson C.P. (1991) Introduction to
Agricultural Economies prentice-Hall, Inc. (Module3)
13. Rudra, Ashok, (1982), Indian Agricultural Economics : Myth
and Realities, Allied Publishers (Modules 5,6).
14. Sen Bhowani (1962), Evolution of Agricultural ????aions in
India. People’s Public House, New Delhi, (Module-6)
15. Thorner, D. and Thorner A. (1962),Land and Labour in
India, Asia Publishing House (Modules 5,6)
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Syllabus
M.A. Part – I, Paper - I
Industrial Economics
1. Theory of the Firm
Undifferentiated Products - Cournot, Stackelberg, Dominant
firm model, Bertrand-Heterogeneous products - Chamberlin’s
small and large number case-Kinked demand curve theory -
Bain’s limit pricing - Sales and growth maximization hypothesis
- Managerial theories of the firm - Game theoretical models.
2. Investment Decisions
Conventional and modern methods - Risk and uncertainty -
Sensitivity analysis - Financial statements and ratio analysis -
Inflation accounting - Project appraisal methods - Industrial
finance-Sources of finance - Capital structure - Incentive,
signaling and control arguments - Separation of ownership and
control.
3. Vertically Related Markets and Competition Policy
Successive and mutually related market power - Monopoly,
variable proportions and price discrimination - Monopsony and
backward integration - Uncertainty - Diversification, rationing
and cost economics and asset specificity - Internal hierarchies-
Hierarchies as information systems - Incentive structures and
internal labour markets - Supervision in hierarchies -
Competition policy: Need and requirements - Mergers and
acquisitions - Coordination with other policies.
4. Product market Differentiation and Imperfect Information
Lancastrian and Hotelling approaches - representative
consumer approach and Chamberlin’s model of diversity of
tastes - The address approach -Competition in address-Free
entry-Pure profit and non-uniqueness in free entry equilibrium-
product diversity and multi address firms - Bargains and ripoffs
- Theory of sales - Quality and reputations-Product variety-
Imperfect discrimination and price dispersions -Advertising -
Dorfman Steiner condition - Lemons and information
asymmetries.
5. Technical Change and Market Structure
The Economics of patents - Adoption and diffusion of
innovations - Innovations and rivalry : Kamien and Schwartz -
Measures of concentration - Concentration ratio - Hirschman -
Herfindahl index - Entropy measure - Structure conduct
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performance paradigm - Contestable markets - Fixed costs,
Sunk costs and contestability - Stackelberg - Spence - Dixit
model.
6. Indian Industry
Industrial growth in India: Trends and prospects - Public
enterprises; efficiency, productivity and performance constrains
- Small scale industries : definition, role, policy issues and
performance - Capacity utilization - Industrial sickness and Exit
policy - Concept of competitiveness - Nominal protection
coefficients (NPC) and effective rate of protection (ERP) - Total
factor productivity - Technology transfer - Pricing policies:
Administered pricing and LRMC based tariffs - Industrial
location policy in India; regional imbalance - Globalization and
competition - Privatization.
Reference :
1. Ahluwalia, I. J. (1985), Industrial Growth in India - Stagnation
since Mid-sixties, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
2. Ahluwalia, I. J. (1991), Productivity and Growth in Indian
Manufacturing, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
3. Desai, A. V. (1994), “Factors Underlying the Slow Growth of
Indian Industry”, in Indian Growth and Stagnation - The Debate
in India Ex. Deepak Nayyar, Oxford University Press.
4. Ferguson, Paul R. and Glenys J. Ferguson, (1994), Industrial
Economics - Issues and Perspectives, Macmillan, London.
5. Shepher, William G. (1985), The Economics of industrial
Organisation, Prentice - Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, N. J.
6. Staley, E & Morse R. (1965), Modern Small Industry for
Developing Countries, McGraw Hill Book Company.
7. Vepa R. K. (1988), Modern Small Industry in India, Sage
Publications.
8. Srivastava, M.P. (1987), Problems of Accountability of Public
Enterprises in India, Uppal Publishing House, New Delhi.
9. Mohanty, Binode (1991), Ed. Economic Development
Perspectives, Vol. 3, public Enterprises and Performance,
Common Wealth Publishers, New Delhi.
10. Jyotsna and Narayan B. (1990), “Performance Appraisal of
PEs in India: A Conceptual Approach”, in Public Enterprises in
India - Principles and Performance, Ed. Srivastave V.K.L.,
Chug Publications, Allahabad.
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11. Mathur, B. L. (1996), “Organisation Patterns for PEs”, in
Organisational Development and Management in PEs, Ed
Mathur B. L., Arihant Publishing House, Jaipur.
12. Murty, Varanasy S. (1978), Management Finance, Vakils,
Feffer and Simons Ltd.
13. Tirole, J. (1996), The Theory of Industrial Organization,
Prentice - Hall.
14. Holmstrom, B.R. & J. Tirole, The Theory of the Firm, in
Handbook of Industrial Organization, Vol. 1, North-Holland
15. Shapiro, C., Theories of Oligapoly Behaviour, in Handbook of
Industrial Organization, Vol. 1, North-Holland.
16. Curtis Eastion, B. & R.G. Lipsey, Product Differentiation, in
Handbook of Industrial Organization, Vol. 1, North-Holland.
