AP® Microeconomics
For Educators
Teachers can use the complete Plus course curriculum for flexible instruction.
Course Summary
Discover how people and businesses make decisions in a world of limited resources. Explore key economic concepts like supply and demand, market structures, and production costs, and see how government policies shape economic outcomes. Through real-world examples, data analysis, and interactive problem-solving, develop the skills to think like an economist. Learn to interpret graphs, evaluate market efficiency, and apply economic reasoning to everyday situations.
This course builds a strong foundation for further study in economics, business, and public policy and prepares students for the AP® Microeconomics exam.
Curriculum
This is a 1-semester course.
UC Scout courses (except language courses) are conducted entirely in English, including all lessons, assignments, and exams. Students are expected to complete all coursework — including proctored midterm and final exams — in English. Translation tools and browser extensions (such as Google Translate) are not permitted during proctored exams. Students who rely on translation tools to complete coursework should be aware that these tools will not be available during proctored assessments.
Unit 1: Basic Economic Concepts
- Scarcity
- Resource Allocation and Economic Systems
- Production Possibilities
- Comparative Advantage
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Marginal Analysis
Unit 2: Supply and Demand
- Demand
- Supply
- Price Elasticity of Demand
- Price Elasticity of Supply
- Other Elasticities
- Equilibrium, Producer, and Consumer Surplus
- Market Disequilibrium and Changes in Equilibrium
- Effects of Government Intervention
- International Trade and Public Policy
Unit 3: Production, Costs, and Perfect Competition
- The Production Function
- Short-Run Production Costs
- Long-Run Production Costs
- Types of Profit
- Profit Maximization
- Firms' Short-Run vs. Long-Run Production Decisions
- Perfect Competition
Unit 4: Imperfect Competition
- Introduction to Imperfect Competition
- Monopoly
- Price Discrimination
- Monopolistic Competition
- Oligopoly and Game Theory
Unit 5: Factor Markets
- Introduction to Factor Markets
- Changes in Factor Demand and Supply
- Profit Maximization in Perfectly Competitive Factor Markets
- Monopsonistic Markets
Unit 6: Market Failure and the Role of Government
- Socially Efficient and Inefficient Market Outcomes
- Externalities
- Public and Private Goods
- Government Intervention in Different Market Structures
- Inequality