Introduction to Economics and Business Economics
Course manual
Version August 21 20251
Year 2025-2026 (Block 1.1)
Course Code: EBP044A05
1
This document is subject to changes. No rights can be derived from this document. Please keep an
eye on Brightspace course page for latest communications.
1
Program: BSc Economics and Business Economics
Course: Introduction to Economics and Business Economics
Year: 1
Block: 1.1
Course Coordinator: Dr. Juliette de Wit
Tutorial teachers: Pawani Dasgupta, Sophie von Russdorf, dr. Padma
Rao Sahib, dr. Nikolaos Terzidis, dr. Juliette de Wit
Practical invigilators Jean Pierre Bolanos, Hylke Dijkstra, Tim de Leeuw,
Matthijs Leusen, Yu Mu, Jelte Tirion, Pawani Dasgupta,
Sophie von Russdorf, dr. Padma Rao Sahib, dr.
Nikolaos Terzidis, dr. Juliette de Wit
Contact email for students: [Link]@[Link]
Always state the course name in the subject of your
email, together with the subject of your email. Also,
include your student number, tutorial group and team
number in the email text. Use your university email
address (*.[Link]) for communications.
Course objective
This course provides an introduction to Economics and Business Economics. The objective is
to generate knowledge and understanding of core concepts, theories and ideas in Economics
and Business Economics, which will function as the building blocks for follow-up courses in
the bachelor program Economics and Business Economics.
Overview
This course introduces students to core topics in Economics and Business Economics that
are discussed later in the program, specifically in the three profiles in the 2nd and 3rd year.
We show and discuss how fundamental, economic tradeoffs are made in the market (such as
product, labour and financial markets) and how this can lead to efficiency gains as well as
inequalities and market failures. Likewise, attention is paid to the institutional context in which
societies organize themselves. For example, how property rights affect individual and societal
outcomes. A key aim is to showcase how economics and business economics can be used to
understand, and sometimes help to solve, current societal developments and challenges. The
course introduces students to timely themes like income and inequality, and markets and
externalities, which will be evaluated from a (business) economic point of view. Some attention
is given to the Dutch economy specifically.
The course takes a narrative approach to economics, in which students are challenged to use
economic reasoning in in-class discussions and course assignments. Rather than focusing on
the mathematics of economic reasoning, we focus on the intuition, and the assumptions and
concepts that serve as a foundation of economic models. An important part of this course
2
consists of weekly student-led tutorials and group practicals. During these classes students
get the opportunity to practice economic reasoning in discussions. For example, students
interpret and analyze simple descriptive data or models, or discuss timely cases.
1. Learning objectives
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1. Understand the core topics, concepts, and theories in E&BE
2. Understand and critically discuss the fundamental workings of labour, product, and
financial markets
3. Explain and discuss how the institutional context affects economic and business
interactions and outcomes
4. Use economic theory to analyze current societal developments and challenges
5. Interpret data and case studies in the context of the course theories and discuss these
in class
6. Demonstrate the ability to lead a group discussion, and work systematically in a group
7. Become acquainted with the codes and requirements of your study program, and learn
how to effectively manage time and tasks, and reflect on own progress
2. Course set-up
Every week will consist of: Reading the literature and preparing tutorial homework exercises
(several hours), 1 plenary lecture (2 hours), 1 tutorial (2 hours), and 1 practical (1 hour) & 1
practical explainer lecture (1 hour). Course week 1 is an exception with one plenary lecture
and tutorial only.
Upon completion of this course you will earn 5 ECTS. This means that the average student is
expected to put in 140 hours of work. This includes contact hours (lectures, tutorials,
practicals, exams; amounting to 50 hours), but the majority is self-study (reading assigned
literature, preparing homework assignments, studying course material; amounting to 90
hours).
0. Read the assigned literature before the lecture and tutorials. It is absolutely crucial to
study the assigned readings before class. The lectures, tutorials, and practicals pre-suppose
your knowledge of the assigned readings. Without it, you will not be able to actively participate
in the tutorials nor practicals. Weekly, ungraded practice quizzes are provided on Brightspace
to facilitate your learning.
1. On campus lectures at the beginning of the week. The lecture aims to introduce and
motivate important concepts and ideas. Note that the lectures may not fully cover the reading
materials.
2. On campus tutorials midweek. The tutorials require active participation. Students prepare
homework-questions (tutorial problem sets; TPS) by themselves. TPS are made available on
Brightspace, but answers will only be shared in class. During class, the TPS is discussed
through open discussion. The in-class discussion is led by student teams that are formed in
week 1 of the course. Each team will consist of two student pairs. The tutorial is structured as
3
follows: the first half hour is led by the tutorial teacher, who gives an overview of that week’s
material and discusses the answer to some of the TPS question(s); the second half hour is
led by the first student pair; the third half hour is led by the second student pair.
The student teams are responsible for the discussion in the tutorial and should ensure
that all important concepts and questions are discussed. While they chair, the tutorial teacher
takes a step back and only intervenes if the discussion goes off track or helps the students
correct factual mistakes. Important topics are explained more thoroughly by the teacher only
if needed. The teacher's main task is to help facilitate discussion. For instructions on how to
chair the tutorials, please have a look at document “How to chair a tutorial session” on
Brightspace.
3. On campus practicals end of the week. Students work on a case, short articles, or study
figures etc. in the class, which is shared before the practical. Students receive an assignment
on this material during the practical. Students sit in randomly assigned teams (by the practical
invigilator at the beginning of each practical), where they discuss the questions from the
practical assignment within their team and come up with answers together. After 45 minutes,
the team submits their answers to the practical teacher. The team receives a group grade
(pass/fail) for the practical assignment. Note that this a team grade and active participation is
mandatory to obtain the practical grade.
4. On campus practical explainer lecture Directly after the practical, there is an explainer
lecture of the practical case. No answers will be provided on Brightspace.
5. On campus office hours in weeks 5 and 9 of the course. Office hours are organized to
facilitate your learning and to ask questions about the course content. They are organized
several days before the midterm and final exam and will be announced via Brightspace.
No written answers/solutions will be provided to the tutorial and practical problem sets on
Brightspace. You are encouraged to take your own notes during the tutorial and practical
sessions, and the practical explainer lectures.
4. Tutorial group and team allocation
The tutorial group allocation will be made available in week 1 of the course and published on
Brightspace. In case you are not allocated, please contact Mrs. Grietje Pol at ebe@[Link] as
soon as possible. Please note that it is not possible to switch tutorial groups.
Chairing teams of 4 students will be formed and finalized in week 1 for the tutorials. These
teams are final and cannot be changed during the course. Moreover, in each team, 2 student
pairs will be formed that will chair a one hour in-class tutorial discussion. A rotation schedule
will be made available on Brightspace.
5. Literature
We use the following open source textbook:
4
[Link] We recommend that you buy the
hardcopy, but you can also work with the online document. The hardcopy and online textbook
have the same content.
Please register as a learner to access additional resources and tools that you will need to
complete the course homework. You can use this link: [Link]
Also have a look at the learner resources for additional material, explanatory videos and
interactive tools. You can find them here: [Link]
6. Exam material
The midterm will cover all the materials covered in weeks 1-4 of the course. That means, the
book chapters Ch. 1-4, lecture material, tutorial material, practical exercises, and any
additional materials discussed during the class meetings.
The final exam will cover all the materials covered in weeks 1-8 of the course, but the emphasis
will be on the material that is not covered on the midterm. That means, the book Ch. 5-11
except for Ch.7 and Ch. 8, lecture material, guest lecture, tutorial material, practical exercises,
and any additional materials discussed during the class meetings.
7. Assessment
The final grade consists of three parts:
Midterm exam digital 30%
Final exam digital 50%
Active participation 20%
The active participation grade consists of the following elements:
- active participation in tutorials 5%
- pass practical assignments 5%
- tutorial chairing (team, for all members present) 5%
- mentor program requirements (specified by the mentor program) 5%
Resit exam and grade (the resit covers all course material)
Resit exam digital 80%
Active participation grade 20%
To pass the course, an overall grade of 5.5 or higher is required.
5
The individual tutorial and practical grades are calculated as follows:
# Active tutorial participation # Passed practical assignments Grade
0 0 0
1-2 1-2 2
3 3 4
4 4 6
5-6 5 8
7-8 6-7 10
Please note that you have 1 week to point out any errors or omissions in your active tutorial
participation score. It is your responsibility to check this each week. Please contact your
tutorial teacher via email to point this out. After one week, no changes can be made to the
tutorial participation score.
Moreover, please note that the practicals are an exam setting. This means that phones, AI, or
communication with other teams is not allowed and will result in a fail. You are allowed to use
the textbook and case.
The grade for tutorial chairing is assessed by a score that is either 0 (fail), 7 (satisfactory),
or 10 (excellent), and counts for all team members present:
• A score of 0 is assigned if you were absent, did not complete the chairing task during
the class, of if chairing was judged insufficient by the tutor. Insufficient chairing means
that you were not prepared well, did not chair the discussion appropriately, and may
mean that the tutor had to intervene too often.
• A score of 7 is assigned if your performance is sufficient. This means that you
demonstrated that you prepared the problem set, worked together as a team, and
chaired the discussion adequately.
• A score of 10 is assigned if your performance is excellent. This means that you
demonstrated that you mastered the material (e.g., problem set, reading material) of
that week, were able to contextualize the material by referring to examples and/or
giving in depth explanations, and led a fruitful and active discussion that resulted in
answers to all questions of the problem set.
The mentor program grade is determined within the mentor program. For questions about
this, please contact Anouk Schippers at ebe@[Link] with the subject of the email mentioning
“mentor program”.
8. Other exam information
Please note that the following rules apply during exams,:
- The exam is closed-book, which means that you are not allowed to bring the textbook
or notes to the exam. You are allowed to bring your book to the practicals and tutorials.
- It is not allowed to use dictionaries during the exam.
- Any form of fraud during exams will be reported to the Board of Examiners. Depending
on the seriousness of the case, the penalties on fraud range from exclusion from the
course for a minimum period of a year to exclusion from the entire program. Note that
this includes cases of (self-) plagiarism.
6
- Faculty policy dictates that students are not allowed to visit the bathroom during
exams.
Exam inspection
After every exam there is an opportunity to inspect your graded exam. An announcement will
be put on Brightspace after the exam results are available. Please note that the exam
inspection is not an opportunity to bargain about your grade. Nor is it an opportunity for you to
provide additional explanation on the answers provided during the exam. We will ask you to
enroll for the review in due time.
Repeaters
If you failed the course last year and have to retake it, then, in principle, the rules that apply
to first year students also apply to you. Students that have enrolled for the course for the
second (or third, etc.) time are subject to the same rules as first year students.
8. Weekly schedule
Course Date Reading/lecture Material Material Other
Week tut. prac.
1 1/9-5/9 Course introduction Tutorial – No
no TSP practical
2 8/9-12/9 Chapter 1 TPS1 PPS1
Prosperity and inequality
3 15/9-19/9 Chapter 2 (excl. 2.13 & TPS2 PPS2
2.14) & 3
Human interaction and
public policy
4 22/9-26/9 Chapter 4 TPS3 PPS3 Office hours
Work, Wellbeing and
scarcity
5 29/9-3/10 Chapter 5 TPS4 Midterm
Income and institutions
6 6/10-10/10 Chapter 6 TPS5 PPS4
The firm
7 13/10-17/10 Chapter 9 & 10.1 -10.5 TPS6 PPS5
(excl. 10.6-10.14)
Financial markets
8 20/10-24/10 Markets and governments: TPS7 PPS6
Guest lecture by Marcel
Timmer on the Dutch
economy +
Recorded lecture Ch. 11
9 27/10-31/10 Office hours
10 03/11 Exam
26/01/2026 Resit
TPS refers to Tutorial Problem Set, PPS refers to Practical Problem Set.
Check [Link] changes.
