AP

AP Microeconomics

0.75 Credits
18 weeks
student studying at home on laptop
Open

Enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year is no longer available. Students may register now for the 2024-2025 school year and will be assigned to a course section after July 1, 2024.

In this course, students explore the power of marginal thinking and apply it to common decisions that individuals and business firms encounter each day. Students examine, interpret, analyze, and model key microeconomics concepts and processes, from the shifting supply and demand for familiar products to the model of the labor market and how wages are determined. This rich course provides students with all the material and practice needed for success on the AP Exam. Yet, this is just the beginning—in the long run, taking AP Microeconomics will develop the critical thinking and analytical skills that empower students for a lifetime.

 

 

Major Topics and Concepts

Module 01: Basic Economic Concepts
Basic Economic Concepts Introduction
Scarcity
Resource Allocation and Economic Systems
Production Possibilities Curve
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Marginal Analysis and Consumer Choice

Module 02: Supply and Demand
Supply and Demand Introduction
Demand
Supply
Price Elasticity of Demand
Price Elasticity of Supply
Other Elasticities
Market Equilibrium and Consumer and Producer Surplus
Market Disequilibrium and Changes in Equilibrium
The Effects of Government Intervention in Markets
International Trade and Public Policy

Module 03: Production, Cost, and the Perfect Competition Model
Production, Cost, and the Perfect Competition Model Introduction
The Production Function
Short-Run Production Costs
Long-Run Production Costs
Types of Profit
Profit Maximization
Firms’ Short-Run and Long-Run Decisions
Perfect Competition

Module 04: Imperfect Competition
Imperfect Competition Introduction
Basics of Imperfectly Competitive Markets
Monopoly
Price Discrimination
Monopolistic Competition
Oligopoly and Game Theory

Module 05: Factor Markets
Factor Markets Introduction
Basics of Factor Markets
Changes in Factor Demand and Factor Supply
Profit-Maximizing Behavior in Perfectly Competitive Factor Markets
Monopsonistic Markets

Module 06: Market Failure and the Role of Government
Market Failure and the Role of Government Introduction
Socially Efficient and Inefficient Market Outcomes
Externalities
Public and Private Goods
The Effects of Government Intervention in Different Market Structures
Inequality

 

 

Course Materials

AP Course & Exam Registration Requirements

College Board requires students to register for AP exams no later than November 13th (individual schools may set earlier deadlines).

All VLACS AP students are required to enroll in the “course only” section in My AP.  Instructions for joining My AP will be posted on each VLACS course page and instructors are available to help with this process.

Students who plan to take the corresponding AP exam must arrange to take the exam at a local school that administers it. To register for an AP Exam, the local school will enroll the student in an “exam only” section in My AP.  Students should follow these steps:

  • Search for a local test site through this resource of contact AP Services for Students at 888-225-5427 [email protected]. That office can give you contact information for local AP coordinators who may be willing to test outside students. Students are then responsible for contacting coordinators on that list to see if one can arrange to test for you. You should do this no later than October 2nd. Note that schools may have their own local deadlines for receiving requests from outside students to test at their school so we recommend doing this as soon as possible
  • The AP coordinator who agrees to assist you must provide a join code for an “exam only” section in My AP. You’ll use the join code to join the section so that the AP coordinator can order your exam.

Please note that, if a school allows a student to register after the 11/13 deadline, there will be a $40 late exam fee. There will also be a $40 canceled/unused exam fee if a student registers and then cancels his/her exam or if the student does not show up on test day.

More information is available on the College Board’s website: https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/

Competencies

Economic Foundations

Students will demonstrate an understanding of economic foundations by summarizing the function of economic systems, describing the production possibilities curve, explaining comparative advantage and trade, and analyzing marginal analysis and consumer choice.

Economic Supply and Demand

Students will demonstrate an understanding of economic supply and demand by summarizing the laws of supply and demand, explaining economic elasticity, comparing market equilibrium, and analyzing trade regulations.

Production, Costs and Competition

Students will demonstrate an understanding of production, costs and competition by analyzing cost curves, explaining profit maximization, and summarizing market structures.

The Structure of Competition

Students will demonstrate an understanding of imperfect competition by explaining the imperfect competitive market, summarizing price discrimination, and analyzing oligopoly and game structures.

The Factor Markets

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the factor markets by explaining factor market foundations, comparing factor market changes, and summarizing how to maximize profit margins.

Government’s Role in Market Viability

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the government’s role in market viability by analyzing socially efficient and inefficient market outcomes, summarizing externalities, explaining regulation of monopolies and describing the effects of government intervention in market structures.