Microeconomics in Context (Preliminary Edition)

Contents I. The Context for Economic Analysis Chapter 1. Economic Activity in Context 1. Your Starting Point 2. The Goals of Economic Activity 3. The Issues That Define Economics 4. Modes of Economic Organization 5. Microeconomics in Context Chapter 2. Economic Actors and Organizations 1. Thinking about Economic Actors and Organizations 2. Motivation and Behavior 3. The Three Sectors 4. Interactions Among the Three Sectors 5. Economics Actors in the Simple Mechanical Model II. The Four Economic Activities: Resource Maintenance, Production, Distribution, and Consumption Chapter 3. Capital Stocks and Resource Maintenance 1. The Nature of Capital Stocks 2. The Evolution of Capital 3. Natural Capital (NK) 4. Produced Capital (PK) 5. Human Capital (HK) 6. Social Capital (SK) 7. Financial Capital (FK) 8. Sustaining Capital Stocks Chapter 4. Production Costs 1. Society's Production Possibilities 2. Economic Tradeoffs: Society's Production Possibilities Frontier 3. Economic Costs 4. The Production Function Appendix: A Formal Model of Producer Costs Chapter 5. Production Decisions 1. Goals and Decision Making 2. Marginal Thinking 3. Discrete Decision Making 4. Financial Capital as an Input to Production Appendix: A Formal Theory of Producer Behavior with Convexity and Perfect Competition Chapter 6. Distribution: Exchange and Transfer 1. Who Gets What, and How? 2. Principles of Exchange 3. Principles of Transfer 4. Distribution Outcomes in the U.S. 5. Inequality Appendix: A Formal Theory of Gains from Trade Chapter 7. Consumption and the Consumer Society 1. Consumption: Final Use 2. Consumer Behavior: The Marketing View 3. Consumer Behavior: The Utility Theory View 4. The Consumer Society 5. Consumption and Well-Being Appendix: A Formal Theory of Consumer Behavior III. A Closer Look at Markets Chapter 8. Market Institutions 1. The Meaning of Markets 2. The Development and Expansion of Markets 3. Institutional Requirements of Markets 4. Markets and Well-Being 5. Types of Markets Chapter 9. Supply and Demand 1. Explaining Prices and Quantities 2. The Theory of Supply 3. The Theory of Demand 4. The Theory of Market Adjustment 5. Topics in Market Analysis 6. Explaining Real-World Prices and Quantities Chapter 10. Working with Supply and Demand 1. How Much Money Will Sales Bring In? 2. The Price Elasticity of Demand 3. The Price Elasticity of Supply 4. Income, Price, and Buyer Behavior 5. Short-Run vs. Long-Run Elasticities 6. Looking at Equity and Efficiency Chapter 11. Market Power and Market Structures 1. What Is Market Power? 2. Perfect Competition 3. Pure Monopoly: One Seller 4. Monopolistic Competition 5. Oligopoly 6. Summary and a Final Note Appendix: A Formal Analysis of Market Structures Chapter 12. Markets for Labor 1. Thinking about Markets for Labor 2. Individual Decisions and Paid Labor Supply 3. Supply and Demand at the Market Level 4. Explaining Variations in Wages 5. Labor in the Simple Mechanical Model Appendix: A Formal Model of a Firm's Hiring Decision in Perfect Competition Chapter 13. Markets for Other Resources 1. Valuing Capital Stocks 2. Markets for Produced, Natural, and Social Capital 3. Markets for Financial Capital VI. A Closer Look at Economic Organizations Chapter 14. The Core Sector: Households and Communities 1. Households and Communities as Organizations 2. The Core Sector in Historical Perspective 3. "Work/Family" Challenges 4. Theories of Household Behavior Chapter 15. The Business Sector: For-Profit Firms 1. Businesses as Organizations 2. The Evolution of Big Business 3. The Goals of Firms 4. Dualism in Modern Markets: Will Small Firms Survive? Chapter 16. The Public Purpose Sector: Governments and Non-Profits 1. Public Purpose Organizations and Their Functions 2. Types of Public Purpose Organizations 3. The Public Purpose Sector in Historical Perspective 4. Theories of Organizational Behavior V. Economic Outcomes and Economic Ideology Chapter 17. The Variety of Economic Systems 1. Comparing Economic Systems 2. Varieties of Capitalism and Socialism 3. Comparative Systems in Historical Perspective 4. Comparing Economic Performance Chapter 18. Market Systems and Normative Claims 1. Why Discuss Normative Claims? 2. The Theory Behind the "Free Market" Argument 3. Contextual Economics: Into the Future 4. Last Words Glossary IndexThomas Weisskopf is the author of 'Microeconomics in Context (Preliminary Edition)', published 2003 under ISBN 9780618343157 and ISBN 0618343156.