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Resources, Incentives, and Choices I: Markets and Market Failures
API 101 B

Course Information

Description

This course applies microeconomic reasoning to public policies. It considers economic incentives and organizations; models of economic behavior; the operation of markets; the price system and how it works; the consequences of market failure and interventions in markets; and policy objectives and instruments. It is the first course in the ‘Resources, Incentives, and Choices’ sequence, and provides the foundational frameworks required for the second course in the sequence, Economic Analysis of Public Policy (API-102).

Course Notes

Prerequisite: The Z section of this course presumes the ability to use basic calculus. API-101 is required for MPP students. May not be taken for credit if taken after API-109 or API-111. MPA students can enroll in API-101 only with the permission of the API-101 course head and if admitted will be assigned to a section by the MPP faculty chair.

School Harvard Kennedy School
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Not Available for Cross Registration

Department HKS Government
Course Component Lecture
Instruction Mode In Person
Grading Basis HKS Letter Graded
Course Requirements Prerequisite: MPP students only OR permission of the instructor
Exam/Final Deadline Dec. 11, 2025 9:00 AM
Academic Areas Markets, Business, and Government