ECON 130Microeconomic Principles

An introduction to economic principles and their application to issues facing households, businesses and government in the New Zealand economy and the international economic environment. Note: CRNs 17450 and 15517 are for Vietnam-based students only.

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No information for 2023

ECON 130 is not offered in 2023. We're showing course information for 2026.

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Course details

Dates
23 Feb 2026 to 21 Jun 2026
Starts
Trimester 1
Fees
NZ$1,020.00 for
International fees
NZ$4,693.20
Lecture start times
  • Friday 1.10pm
Campus
Kelburn
Estimated workload
Approximately 150 hours or 9.4 hours per week for 16 weeks
Points
15

Entry restrictions

Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Restrictions
None

Taught by

School of Economics and Finance—Wellington School of Business and Government

Disclaimer

This course outline may be subject to change.

Key dates

Find important dates—including mid-trimester teaching breaks—on the University's key dates calendar.

You'll be told about assessment dates once the course has begun.

Key dates

About this course

This course is intended as a first course in microeconomics. It exposes students to economic concepts, frameworks and simple models, and so prepares students for further study in ECON and FINA courses. Analysis of these models will sometimes require knowledge of elementary mathematics, such as graphing lines and algebra.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course should be able to:

  1. Explain and assess the key principles of economics.

  2. Explain and analyse the optimal choice of a consumer.

  3. Explain and analyse the optimal production plan of a firm.

  4. Identify an equilibrium and analyse the main influences on equilibrium prices and quantities.

  5. Solve and comment on simple games.

  6. Explain and address the implications of imperfect competition in markets.

  7. Explain the basic concepts of finance.

  8. Critical understanding of economic policy, including e.g. different policies for the reduction of greenhouse emissions.

How this course is taught

This course is optimised for face-to-face delivery on campus. All lectures will be recorded and available for two weeks. 

Assessment

  • Assessment to be confirmed Mark: 100%

Assessment dates and extensions

Once you've signed up to this course, you can use to see due dates for assessments and information about extensions.

Mandatory requirements

There are no mandatory course requirements for this course.

Lecture times and rooms

What you’ll need to get

For in-person tutorials, please bring a device with internet access, such as a laptop or tablet, to fully participate in activities. If you do not have access to such a device, you can opt to join a Zoom tutorial and attend from one of the campus computer labs.

Past versions of this course

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Selected offering

ECON 130

23 Feb–21 Jun 2026

Trimester 1 · CRN 8721

2026 course optionsOptions (2)