Price theory and applications / Steven E. Landsburg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Landsburg, Steven E., 1954-

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Microeconomics.

Prices.

Physical Description:

xxx, 749 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

Fifth edition.

Place of Publication:

Cincinnati, Ohio : South-Western Pub., [2002]

Summary:

Price, Theory and Applications makes intermediate microeconomics fun and intellectually challenging. The writing style provides an exceptionally friendly and application-rich presentation, combined with a rigorous and careful development of microeconomics theory. All of the standard topics of intermediate price theory are included, as well as many innovative topics such as alternative normative criteria, efficient asset markets, contestable markets, antitrust law, human capital, demand for public goods, and more. A unique unifying theme of social welfare is used throughout while the inclusion of higher-level mathematics is limited. The author's heavy use of applications and the emphasis on verbal reasoning minimize the complexity of the material. New concepts are immediately illustrated with entertaining and informative examples, both verbal and numerical such as the demand for murder, the economics of polygamy, and the supply of jokes.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Supply, Demand, and Equilibrium 1

Chapter 2 Prices, Costs, and the Gains from Trade 32

Chapter 3 The Behavior of Consumers 48

3.1 Tastes 49

3.2 The Budget Line and the Consumer's Choice 58

3.3 Applications of Indifference Curves 64

Appendix Cardinal Utility 80

Chapter 4 Consumers in the Marketplace 84

4.1 Changes in Income 84

4.2 Changes in Price 89

4.3 Income and Substitution Effects 94

4.4 Elasticities 103

Chapter 5 The Behavior of Firms 119

5.1 Weighing Costs and Benefits 120

5.2 Firms in the Marketplace 126

Chapter 6 Production and Costs 143

6.1 Production and Costs in the Short Run 144

6.2 Production and Costs in the Long Run 158

6.3 Relations Between the Short Run and the Long Run 172

Chapter 7 Competition 184

7.1 The Competitive Firm in the Short Run 184

7.2 The Competitive Industry in the Short Run 196

7.3 The Competitive Firm in the Long Run 203

7.4 An Introduction to the Competitive Industry in the Long Run 205

7.5 Constant-Cost Industries 211

7.6 Increasing- and Decreasing-Cost Industries 218

7.7 Applications 221

7.8 Using the Competitive Model 227

Chapter 8 Welfare Economics and the Gains from Trade 237

8.1 Measuring the Gains from Trade 238

8.2 The Efficiency Criterion 249

8.3 Examples and Applications 258

8.4 General Equilibrium and the Invisible Hand 273

Appendix Normative Criteria 293

Chapter 9 Knowledge and Information 302

9.1 The Informational Content of Prices 302

9.2 Financial Markets 316

9.3 Topics in the Economics of Information 321

Chapter 10 Monopoly 339

10.1 Price and Output under Monopoly 340

10.2 Sources of Monopoly Power 349

10.3 Price Discrimination 354

Chapter 11 Market Power, Collusion, and Oligopoly 378

11.1 Acquiring Market Power 379

11.2 Collusion and the Prisoner's Dilemma: An Introduction to Game Theory 394

11.3 Regulation 403

11.4 Oligopoly 413

11.5 Monopolistic Competition and Product Differentiation 418

Chapter 12 The Theory of Games 427

12.1 Game Matrices 428

12.2 Sequential Games 439

Chapter 13 External Costs and Benefits 447

13.1 Costs Imposed on Others 447

13.2 The Coase Theorem 452

13.3 Transactions Costs 465

13.4 The Law and Economics 473

Chapter 14 Common Property and Public Goods 490

14.1 The Tragedy of the Commons 490

14.2 Public Goods 499

Chapter 15 The Demand for Factors of Production 511

15.1 The Firm's Demand for Factors in the Short Run 511

15.2 The Firm's Demand for Factors in the Long Run 518

15.3 The Industry's Demand Curve for Factors of Production 525

15.4 The Distribution of Income 527

Chapter 16 The Market for Labor 537

16.1 Individual Labor Supply 537

16.2 Labor Market Equilibrium 546

16.3 Differences in Wages 552

16.4 Discrimination 556

Chapter 17 Allocating Goods Over Time 563

17.1 Bonds and Interest Rates 563

17.2 Applications 570

17.3 The Market for Current Consumption 580

17.4 Production and Investment 595

Chapter 18 Risk and Uncertainty 607

18.1 Attitudes Toward Risk 607

18.2 The Market for Insurance 621

18.3 Futures Markets 624

18.4 Markets for Risky Assets 627

18.5 Rational Expectations 636

Chapter 19 What is Economics? 648

19.1 The Nature of Economic Analysis 648

19.2 The Rationality Assumption 653

19.3 What is an Economic Explanation? 657

19.4 The Scope of Economic Analysis 662

Appendix A Calculus Supplement 671.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

0324059795

OCLC:

46472087