This study session focuses on the microeconomic principles used to describe the marketplace behavior of consumers and firms.

Reading 13 explains the concepts and tools of demand and supply analysis—the study of how buyers and sellers interact to determine transaction prices and quantities.

Reading 14 covers the theory of the consumer, which addresses the demand for goods and services by individuals who make decisions to maximize the satisfaction they receive from present and future consumption.

Reading 15 deals with the theory of the firm, focusing on the supply of goods and services by profit-maximizing firms. That reading provides the basis for understanding the cost side of firms’ profit equation.

Reading 16 completes the picture by addressing revenue and explains the types of markets in which firms sell output. Overall, the study session provides the economic tools for understanding how product and resource markets function and the competitive characteristics of different industries.