| Institute of Food and Resource Economics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | BSc. 3 year to MSc. 2 year | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Level | Joint BSc and MSc | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination Written Exam in Lecturehall No aid allowed Description of Examination: 4-hour written exam Weight: 100 percent 7-point scale, internal examiner Dates of Exam: 25 January 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Requirement For Attending Exam | submitted project report | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Lectures, theoretical exercises, group work, project work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 2 Week Structure: B | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | None | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Areas of Competence the Course Will Address | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The course is intended for the MSc programme in Food Science and Technology. Basic Science: After following this course the students will be able to understand the economic theory behind demand and have obtained knowledge of the economic theory behind regulation of demand. Applied Science: After following this course the students will be able to understand the aims and arguments for regulation in a broader perspective and in particular in relation to public food policy. Ethics and Values: After following this course the students are aware of the basic foundation and assumptions behind neoclassical demand theory. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Objectives | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The aim of the course is to give an introduction to the concepts of economic theory, and thereby give a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour in relation to economic decision making. Particularly the theory behind demand for certain goods and possible regulation of this demand is of importance to the course. The participants should understand the aims and arguments for regulation in a broader perspective and in particular in the relation to public food policy. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The course consists of three main parts: 1. The economic part. This is the theoretical part and is basically about how consumers are assumed to maximize their "quality of life" or as expressed in economics - utility. Consumers maximize utility under the constraint of a budget, which depends on individual income, and prices on the goods the consumers want to consume. The total demand for a given good depends consequently on the price the consumers must pay to purchase. When we know how each consumer behaves to different prices and different income levels we can deduce the total demand for a given good, which is often referred to as the demand function. 2. The welfare economic part. In this part the argument for regulation is discussed and some of the mostly used policy instruments are examined. These instruments include: - Change in consumer prices through taxes, which again change the behaviour of the consumers. - In basic economics it is often assumed that people possess perfect information, and that all available information is used in the utility maximizing process. This is of course not always the case, which is why information is another strong policy instrument. - Other instruments are direct regulation, public support and public control, which will also be discussed during the course. 3. Case studies. In this part some relevant cases will be examined. The relevance is in connection to food policy, food safety, food security, obesity, optimal nutrition etc. The economic theory behind some given consumer or producer behaviour will be examined and which policy instrument it would be optimal to implement will also be discussed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional lectures will present central parts of the curriculum. This knowledge will further be elaborated on in theoretical exercises. The students will in groups work with different case studies, which will end up in a project report. The project report is a requirement for the 4-hour written exam. To illustrate some of the more practical issues, one day will be used for an excursion. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stipulated in "Areas of Competence the Course Will Address" | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jonas Nordström, jno@life.ku.dk, Institute of Food and Resource Economics/Consumption, Health and Ethics Division, Phone: 35336861 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee LSN | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||||||||||
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