Producers, Consumers, and Partial Equilibrium

Producers, Consumers, and Partial Equilibrium provides a systematic and accessible presentation of the full formal details in the core theories of producer and consumer choice under conditions of price taking; and covers the standard theories of competitive, monopoly, and oligopoly partial equilibrium among these economic actors. The book pulls together foundational content from many classic sources and organizes it in a self-contained format that rigidly adheres to optimization as the central behavioral postulate and analytical tool for economic theory.

The book maintains a sharp focus on the properties of outcomes from optimizing behavior in varying environments. These properties are the refutable hypotheses from each optimization behavioral postulate, and they form the core content of this positive economic theory. In so doing, the book presents and documents the underlying formal structure of the theory with a higher degree of integration and completeness than is typical of Ph.D. textbooks in microeconomics.

Includes comprehensive, focused and unified coverage of the mathematics required for the core theories of producer and consumer choice, and partial equilibriumPresents a generalized envelope theorem as a key source of refutable hypothesesDelineates the role of active versus inactive constraints in generating refutable hypotheses Discusses convex functions in economic optimization environmentsPresents the full formal details of core producer and consumer and producer theory in a unified and systematic mannerEmphasizes the refutable hypotheses resulting from behavioral postulates and the completeness (duality) of those hypotheses for the postulated behavior within microeconomicsIncludes end-of-chapter exercises, full index, and an instructor’s solutions manual Includes a concordance that matches its chapters with those of major textbooks

Part 1: Optimization

Introduction

Chapter 1: Properties of a Maximum

Chapter 2: Properties of a Maximum Under Active Constraint

Chapter 3: Convex Functions

Part 2: Producers

Introduction

Chapter 4: Profit Maximization

Chapter 5: Duality of the Profit Maximum

Chapter 6: Cost Minimization

Chapter 7: Cost in Output Markets

Part 3: Consumers

Introduction

Chapter 8: Preferences

Chapter 9: Expenditure Minimization

Chapter 10: Utility Maximization

Chapter 11: Duality of the Utility Maximum

Chapter 12: Consumer Welfare

Part 4: Partial Equilibrium

Introduction

Chapter 13: Perfect Competition

Chapter 14: Monopoly

Chapter 15: Oligopoly