Microeconomic Theory

Dr. Walter Nicholson is the Ward H. Patton Emeritus Professor of Economics at Amherst College and a visiting professor at Ave Maria University, Naples, Florida. Throughout his teaching career, Dr. Nicholson has sought to develop in students an appreciation for the value of economic models in the study of important social questions. He also has enjoyed showing students some of the stranger things that economists have sought to model. Dr. Nicholson received his Ph.D. in economics from MIT. Most of his research is in the area of labor economics, especially policy questions related to unemployment. He lives in Naples, Florida and Montague, Massachusetts, where he and his wife enjoy the frequent visits of their eight grandchildren. Dr. Christopher Snyder is the Joel Z. and Susan Hyatt Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, where he pursues research and teaching interests in microeconomic theory, industrial organization, and law and economics. He is a research associate in the National Bureau of Economic Research, serves on the board of the Industrial Organization Society, and is an associate editor of the Review of Industrial Organization. Snyder received his Ph.D. from MIT. His recent research has appeared in leading economics journals, including the Review of Economics and Statistics and Quarterly Journal of Economics. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife, who also teaches economics at Dartmouth, and three daughters.

Part I: INTRODUCTION.
1. Economic Models.
2. Mathematics for Microeconomics.
Part II: CHOICE AND DEMAND.
3. Preferences and Utility.
4. Utility Maximization and Choice.
5. Income and Substitution Effects.
6. Demand Relationships among Goods.
Part III: UNCERTAINTY AND STRATEGY.
7. Uncertainty.
8. Game Theory.
Part IV: PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY.
9. Production Functions.
10. Cost Functions.
11. Profit Maximization.
Part V: COMPETITIVE MARKETS.
12. The Partial Equilibrium Competitive Model.
13. General Equilibrium and Welfare.
Part VI: MARKET POWER.
14. Monopoly.
15. Imperfect Competition.
Part VII: PRICING IN INPUT MARKETS.
16. Labor Markets.
17. Capital and Time.
Part VIII: MARKET FAILURE.
18. Asymmetric Information.
19. Externalities and Public Goods.