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Course

Microeconomics and the Australian Tax System - ATAX0003

Faculty: Australian School of Business

School: Australian School of Taxation and Business Law

Course Outline: ATAX0003 Course Outline

Campus: ATAX Campus

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0

Excluded: ATAX0103

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

This course provides an introduction to basic microeconomic concepts and skills, and demonstrates their use in order to gain a clear understanding of economic problems and policy issues relevant to the Australian economy. It introduces students to the economic behaviour of small decision-making units such as households, firms and government agencies, with particular reference to the effects of taxation on markets. Emphasis is placed on analytical skills and key concepts which are relevant to tax professionals including, for example, opportunity cost, market equilibrium, elasticity, substitution and income effects, tax incidence and excess burden.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

This course seeks to help you to develop:
  • An ability to recognise economic problems as choice problems arising from scarcity
  • A thorough familiarity with the working of markets through the interaction of demand and supply
  • An understanding the effects of regulation and taxes on the allocation of resources

Main Topics

  • Fundamentals of microeconomics
  • Market demand and supply
  • Consumer behaviour and the demand curve
  • Firm behaviour and the supply curve
  • Market outcomes under perfect competition
  • Market outcomes under other market structures
  • Microeconomics of taxation
  • The use of taxation to correct market failure
  • International trade: theory and policy

Course Texts

Textbook lists for ATAX courses will be available from the UNSW Bookshop from 1 February for Semester 1 courses and from 1 July for Semester 2 courses.
Library

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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