Economists can use computer algebra systems to manipulate symbolic models, derive numerical computations, and analyze empirical relationships among variables. Maxima is an open-source multi-platform computer algebra system that rivals proprietary software. Maxima's symbolic and computational capabilities enable economists and financial analysts to develop a deeper understanding of models by allowing them to explore the implications of differences in parameter values, providing numerical solutions to problems that would be otherwise intractable, and by providing graphical representations that can guide analysis. This book provides a step-by-step tutorial for using this program to examine the economic relationships that form the core of microeconomics in a way that complements traditional modeling techniques. Readers learn how to phrase the relevant analysis and how symbolic expressions, numerical computations, and graphical representations can be used to learn from microeconomic models. In particular, comparative statics analysis is facilitated. Little has been published on Maxima and its applications in economics and finance, and this volume will appeal to advanced undergraduates, graduate-level students studying microeconomics, academic researchers in economics and finance, economists, and financial analysts.

This book takes a comprehensive look at Japanese firms engaging in export and foreign direct investment (FDI) and develops new methods and data to investigate the internationalization of firms, which is a focus issue in international trade. Using micro-level data, the book provides an introduction to theoretical and statistical analysis of internationalization modes of Japanese firms with productivity heterogeneity. It makes clear that although the productivity of internationalized Japanese firms is higher on average than that of firms serving only the domestic market, the difference in productivity between exporters and FDI firms is not as obvious in comparison with that of their counterparts in the United States and Europe. Focusing on this point, the book analyzes not only productivity heterogeneity among firms, but also the differences in firm-specific factors other than productivity: industry-specific factors, market-specific factors such as market size and variable and fixed costs for export, and FDI in destination countries. This in-depth investigation reveals how those factors make the modes of Japanese firms' internationalization different from those in the United States and Europe. Further analysis focuses on the effects of match quality, organizational and institutional factors in the market on firms' exports, and FDI. As an approach to the current trends in international trade, this book is unique in using detailed firm-level panel data drawn from Japanese government statistics.

This textbook provides a comprehensive and unique introduction to modern microeconomics. It adopts an integrative approach, positioning the main findings of economics in a broader context. It critically reflects on theories from a philosophical standpoint and compares them to approaches found in the social sciences, while at the same time highlighting the implications for the design of legal systems and business practices. Intended for undergraduate students, the book presents brief examples and comprehensive case studies to help them grasp the real-world implications of the theories. As such, it is suitable for an applied, yet technically precise approach to teaching microeconomics, as well as for a critical review of the economic mainstream. Starting from the question as to why and how societies organize economic activity, it analyzes the potential and limitations of various types of market with regard to alleviating scarcity and achieving distributive objectives, from an institutional perspective. This second edition systematically expands on decision theory by including chapters on traditional decision theory under risk and uncertainty, and on behavioral economics, as well as a chapter presenting findings from the neurosciences, evolutionary psychology, and narrative psychology. Furthermore, there are theoretical additions, along with updated case studies and examples - from trade wars to pandemics and the climate crisis. A new edition of the companion workbook features a wealth of exercises, ranging from basic multiple-choice questions to challenging mathematical problems and case studies, is also available.

This book analyses how deeply Finnish and Polish second-home owners are integrated into the community's economy. It evaluates second homes considered as a dynamically growing constituent of rural landscape in Europe. The author examines what the key drivers of the consumer's behaviour are, and what the impact of their spending is on the local economy. He utilizes a variety of analytical methods, i.e. classification trees, cluster analysis, regression models, Engel curves and statistical tests. His analysis is nested in microeconomic and consumer theories, tourism and rural studies. The research findings lead to the general conclusion on the consumption convergence that despite contrasting cultural, social and economic backgrounds as well as clear differences in the second home functioning, Finnish and Polish second-home owners are similar to a large extent, in terms of consumer behaviour. "The monograph is well positioned at the outset with respect to rural social and economic change. This is a solid piece of research that significantly furthers the understanding of economic linkage of second homes in Poland and Finland, and should be valued for its potential contributions to policy and regional development." "Professor C. Michael Hall, University of Canterbury" "The book comprises a thorough investigation of the economic relationship between second homes and rural areas at the local level. The study, for the first time, provides a detailed analysis of informal purchasing in the context of second homes. This significant finding should be taken seriously by rural developers and policy makers in both countries." "PhD, Kati Pitkanen, Finnish Environmental Institute" "This work is very useful in empirical, descriptive, analytical, methodological and practical terms. The monograph provides comprehensive and detailed characteristics of the widespread second-home phenomenon in two European countries as well as the assessment of its impact on the local, mostly rural, economy." "Professor Jerzy Wilkin, Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences"

This textbook provides a comprehensive and up to date review of the rapidly expanding business cycle literature. It covers three key strands of the theory which have dominated recent literature in the subject: equilibrium (monetary and real) business cycles, nonlinear business cycle models and political business cycle theories.

After surveying the various approaches to business cycle modelling and studying the recent evidence it becomes clear that far more testing of these key business cycle hypotheses has been undertaken using US macroeconomic time series than the equivalent UK series. In an attempt to redress the balance the authors present new results for UK macroeconomic time series and compare and contrast them with previous results from the UK and those derived in the US. In conclusion, the authors consider the implications for policy of the various theories and the empirical results, and make suggestions for future research.

"Business Cycles" is designed for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of macroeconomics and monetary theory and policy and academic economists wishing to keep abreast of the substantial recent developments in this field.

Our elaborate market exchange system owes its existence not to our calculating brain or insatiable self-centeredness, but rather to our sophisticated and nuanced human sociality and to the inherent rationality built into our emotions. The modern economic system is helped a lot more than hindered by our innate social instincts that support our remarkable capacity for building formal and informal institutions. The book integrates the growing body of experimental evidence on human nature scattered across a variety of disciplines from experimental economics to social neuroscience into a coherent and original narrative about the extent to which market (or impersonal exchange) relations are reflective of the basic human sociality that was originally adapted to a more tribal existence. An accessible resource, this book will appeal to students of all areas of economics, including Behavioral Economics and Neuro-Economics, Microeconomics, and Political Economy.

A scientifically grounded method by which we can understand human conflict in all its forms

The extraordinary stories of low-income women living in São Paulo, industrial case studies and the details of three squatter settlements, and communities in the periphery researched in Simone Buechler’s book, Labor in a Globalizing City, allow us to better understand the period of economic transformation in São Paulo from 1996 to 2003.  Buechler’s in-depth ethnographic research over a period of 17 years include interviews with a variety of social actors ranging from favela inhabitants to Wall Street bankers. Buechler examines the paradox of a globalizing city with highly developed financial, service, and industrial sectors, but at the same time a growing sector of microenterprises, degraded labor, considerable unemployment, unprecedented inequality, and precarious infrastructure in its low-income communities. The author argues that informalization and low-income women’s labor are an integral part of the global economy.  Other countries are continuing to use the same kind of neo-liberal economic model even though once again with the latest global financial crisis, it has proven to be detrimental to many workers.  

The authors present a new formal framework for finding the long-run competitive market equilibrium through short-run equilibria by exploiting the operating policies and plant valuations. This "short-run approach" develops ideas of Boiteux and Koopmans. Applied to the peak-load pricing of electricity generated by thermal, hydro and pumped-storage plants, it gives a sound and practical method of valuing the fixed assets-in this case, the river flows and the geological sites suitable for reservoirs. Its main mathematical basis is the producer's short-run profit maximization programme and its dual; their solutions have relatively simple forms that can greatly ease the fixed-point problem of solving for the general equilibrium. Since the optimal values (profit and cost functions) are usually nondifferentiable-this is so when there are joint costs of production such as capacity constraints-nonsmooth calculus is employed to resolve long-standing discrepancies between textbook theory and industrial reality by giving subdifferential extensions of basic results of microeconomics, including the Wong-Viner Envelope Theorem.

A masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free-market economics Since 1946, Henry Hazlitt's bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can't explain why they often fail so badly-or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, "When someone preaches 'Economics in one lesson,' I advise: Go back for the second lesson." In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free markets. Economics in Two Lessons explains why market prices often fail to reflect the full cost of our choices to society as a whole. For example, every time we drive a car, fly in a plane, or flick a light switch, we contribute to global warming. But, in the absence of a price on carbon emissions, the costs of our actions are borne by everyone else. In such cases, government action is needed to achieve better outcomes. Two-lesson economics means giving up the dogmatism of laissez-faire as well as the reflexive assumption that any economic problem can be solved by government action, since the right answer often involves a mixture of market forces and government policy. But the payoff is huge: understanding how markets actually work-and what to do when they don't. Brilliantly accessible, Economics in Two Lessons unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.

Worldwide, there is considerable interest in postal and delivery economics. Governments, particularly in the European Union, are examining closely the roles of the two systems and how best to regulate them. This volume brings together 20 essays originally presented at the 12th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics held in Cork, Ireland in June 2004. Contributors include researchers, practitioners, and senior managers from throughout the world.

Computer science and economics have engaged in a lively interaction over the past fifteen years, resulting in the new field of algorithmic game theory. Many problems that are central to modern computer science, ranging from resource allocation in large networks to online advertising, involve interactions between multiple self-interested parties. Economics and game theory offer a host of useful models and definitions to reason about such problems. The flow of ideas also travels in the other direction, and concepts from computer science are increasingly important in economics. This book grew out of the author's Stanford University course on algorithmic game theory, and aims to give students and other newcomers a quick and accessible introduction to many of the most important concepts in the field. The book also includes case studies on online advertising, wireless spectrum auctions, kidney exchange, and network management.

This is a history-though, intentionally, a brief history-of the rise of law and economics as a field of thought in the U.S. college and law school academy, though the field has expanded to Europe and South America and will expand further as other legal systems develop. This book explains the origins of the field and the sources of its growth during its formative period. It describes the intellectual roots of the field, and the field's relationship to the understanding of the role of the legal system in directing the functioning of the economy. It describes the effect of the Great Depression and the expansion of governmental power on advancing the functional approach. The book then addresses the work of Aaron Director, during the late 1950s, on focusing economic analysis as a means of understanding the effects of the legal and regulatory system on the allocation of resources in the society. Then it turns to the subsequent intellectual founders of the field-Ronald Coase, Guido Calabresi, and Richard Posner-and attempts to explain the significance of their work. It also discusses the efforts of Robert Bork and Henry Manne toward the influence of law and economics on public policy. The book ends with the founding of the American Law and Economics Association in 1991. This is an essential companion to law and economics texts for undergraduate law and economic students and, especially, a general supplement to first-year casebooks for law school students.

Managerial economics is the application of economic theory and quantitative methods (mathematics and statistics) to the managerial decision-making process. This book will appeal to students with limited prior training in economics and quantitative methods. It assumes that students will have had mathematics training at least through pre-calculus and that they have had a course in elementary statistics. It also expects students to have had an undergraduate course in intermediate microeconomics.
The book includes these features:
* An Online Instructor's Manual
* An Online Study Guide
* A problem-solving approach to the study of managerial economics that combines the features of a standard managerial economics textbook with those of a separate study guide.
* A method for helping business students develop the analytical skills necessary for success in the study of managerial economics, finance, and management.
* A more extensive review of mathematical techniques than most comparable textbooks.
* A separate chapter on game theory, including:
* Noncooperative, simultaneous-move, one- shot games
* Cooperative, simultaneous-move, infinitely- repeated games (including collusions, cheating rules, and determinants of collusive agreements)
* Cooperative, simultaneous-move, finitely- repeated games
* Focal-point equilibria
* Multistage games
* Bargaining with and without symmetric and asymmetric impatience
* A chapter on the time value of money and capital budgeting
* The accentuation of risk, uncertainty, and the economics of information throughout
Book Hooks:
* Practice oriented, avoiding complex theoretical explanations withcumbersome notation
* Problems are included in each section and are made integral to learning and understanding subjects
* Math review uses economic relationships instead of general notation
* Excellent balance among motivation, theory, and examples
* Clear exposition
Key Features:
Emphasizes utility and applicability, not innovation
Chapters conclude with:
* chapter review
* key terms and concepts
* chapter questions
* chapter exercises
* selected readings

This volume uses the study of firm dynamics to investigate the factors preventing faster productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, pushing past the limits of traditional macroeconomic analyses. Each chapter is dedicated to an examination of a different factor affecting firm productivity - innovation, ICT usage, on-the-job-training, firm age, access to credit, and international linkages - highlighting the differences in firm characteristics, behaviors, and strategies. By showcasing this remarkable heterogeneity, this collection challenges regional policymakers to look beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and create balanced policy mixes tailored to distinct firm needs. This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.

This book takes readers on a unique journey across some of the most debated implications of the rise of the Chinese economy on the global scene. From the analysis, suggestions emerge on how to improve statistical tools to measure performance and to obtain more precise macroeconomic forecasts. Moreover, it confirms the suspicion that a governance model of firms that does not sufficiently encourage market competition may have significant costs in terms of efficiency for the Chinese production system. The analysis of demographic factors and of household savings gives further support to calls for a serious reform effort, particularly of the pension and health care systems, to utilize households' savings more efficiently and equitably. Finally the analyses of Chinese and global trade underscore the need for a less superficial consideration of the implications of the Chinese presence in global markets.

Game theory has been applied to a growing list of practical problems, from antitrust analysis to monetary policy; from the design of auction institutions to the structuring of incentives within firms; from patent races to dispute resolution. The purpose of Game Theory and Business Applications is to show how game theory can be used to model and analyze business decisions. The contents of this revised edition contain a wide variety of business functions - from accounting to operations, from marketing to strategy to organizational design. In addition, specific application areas include market competition, law and economics, bargaining and dispute resolution, and competitive bidding. All of these applications involve competitive decision settings, specifically situations where a number of economic agents in pursuit of their own self-interests and in accordance with the institutional "rules of the game" take actions that together affect all of their fortunes. As this volume demonstrates, game theory provides a compelling guide for analyzing business decisions and strategies.

Oligopoly theory is one of the most intensively studied areas of mathematical economics. On the basis of the pioneering works of Cournot (1838), many res- rchers have developed and extensively examined the different variants of oligopoly models. Initially, the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium of the different types of oligopolies was the main concern, and later the dynamic extensions of these models became the focus. The classical result of Theocharis (1960) asserts that under discrete time scales and static expectations, the equilibrium of a sing- product oligopoly without product differentiation and with linear price and cost functions is asymptotically stable if and only if it is a duopoly. In the continuous time case, asymptotic stability is guaranteed for any number of ?rms. In these cases the resulting dynamical systems are also linear, where local and global asymptotic stability are equivalent to each other. The classical book of Okuguchi (1976) gives a comprehensive summary of the earlier results and developments. The multipr- uct extensionshave been discussed in Okuguchiand Szidarovszky(1999);however, nonlinear features were barely touched upon in these contributions. WiththedevelopmentofthecriticalcurvemethodbyGumowskiandMira(1980) (see also Mira et al. (1996))fordiscrete time systemsand the introductionof cont- uously distributed information lags by Invernizzi and Medio (1991) in continuous time systems, increasing attention has been given to the global dynamics of n- linear oligopolies. The authors of this book have devoted a great deal of research effort to this area.

A conspicuous feature of the modern economy is the multitude of multiunit systems that operate in several markets - an organizational form that arguably rivals the "M-form" as the 20th century's most successful. Research traditions studying multiunit systems include the multimarket perspective, which has used commitment and mutual forbearance theory, and the multiunit perspective, which has used learning and knowledge transfer theory. These perspectives are interdisciplinary, but to date there has been little direct interaction among them. This text aims to bring these areas together, discussing such things as: examining how variation in firm capabilities affects the co-ordination of branches and thus their forbearance or transfer of routines; bridging theories of market conduct and internal behaviour to explore how knowledge about markets and competitor behaviour is transferred among organizational units; making a theory of contingent multiunit or single-unit competitive advantage that can account for the coexistence of these organizational forms in many markets; and examining the effects of firm contacts in alliances or technological fields on their competitive behaviours.

Economic Growth and the Environment explores the debate on how to reconcile economic growth with protection of the natural environment, and the closely related discussion on whether an increasing scarcity of natural resources will eventually force economic growth to cease. The debate focusses on whether environmental policies will benefit the economy or not, and is divided into growth optimists and growth pessimists. In general, economists have been optimistic and have pointed to the possibilities of technological progress and substitution, yet they also acknowledge that natural resources and environmental concern do restrict economic growth. The difficulty lies in quantifying the constraint to economic growth. Modern growth economists have constructed models to examine to what extent 'growth pessimism' is theoretically warranted. This book provides an introduction to some of these models, brings together the discussion between growth optimists and pessimists, and presents the theory behind their arguments. It aims to present models where both sides can meet and where both are able to derive expected results with the parameter values that they deem appropriate. From there, the discussions can turn to the empirical observations about these parameters. This book will be of interest to advanced undergraduates in economics, microeconomics, economic growth, sustainable development, and environmental economics. Each chapter concludes with a set of Exercises designed to help the reader master the models.

The book aims at providing an overview of the main economic issues related to tourism activities. While tourism is an important sector, contributing to more than 10% of the European Union's GDP, research and teaching at the university level has only recently grown to a considerable level, and the field still lacks a firm research methodology. This book approaches tourism economics as an applied field of study in which tourism markets are represented as imperfect markets, with asymmetric and incomplete information among agents, bounded rationality, and with a strong presence of externalities and public goods. The economic issues studied in the book are approached both intuitively, largely using examples and case studies, and formally, with mathematical formalizations in text boxes.

How can a municipal investment pool, which is supposed to be safe, lose billions of dollars? What are derivatives and how did they contribute to this tragedy? In December 1994, Orange County became the largest municipality in U.S. history to become bankrupt. By borrowing heavily and placing the wrong bets, Orange County Treasurer Robert Citron lost $1.7 billion of Orange County's $7.4 billion investment portfolio. "Big Bets Gone Bad: Derivatives and Bankruptcy in Orange County" is the first detailed description of the Orange County bankruptcy. Author Philippe Jorion, the only professor in Orange County who teaches and researches derivatives, is uniquely placed to understand the technical details of the portfolio and climate in the Orange County municipal government that encouraged the decisions that led to the bankruptcy. "Big Bets Gone Bad" provides an introduction to the U.S. bond market and details Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan's efforts to tighten credit. Its description of the $35 trillion derivatives market makes the losses of Barings Bank, Kashima Oil, West Virginia, and Metallgesellschaft more understandable. "Big Bets Gone Bad" explains what everyone should know about tax monies and public investments. Because nobody likes to lose $1.7 billion.

The present book is the offspring of my Habilitation, which is the key to academic tenure in Austria. Legal requirements demand that a Ha bilitation be published and so only seeing it in print marks the real end of this biographical landmark project. From a scientific perspective I may hope to finally reach a broader audience with this book for a criti cal appraisal of the research done. Aside from objectives the book is a reflection of many years of research preceding Habilitation proper in the field of efficiency measurement. Regarding the subject matter the main intention was to fill an important remaining gap in the efficiency analysis literature. Hitherto no technique was available to estimate output-specific efficiencies in a statistically convincing way. This book closes this gap, although some desirable improvements and generalizations of the proposed estimation technique may yet be required, before it will eventually establish as standard tool for efficiency analysis. The likely audience for this book includes professional researchers, who want to enrich their tool set for applied efficiency analysis, as well as students of economics, management science or operations research, in tending to learn more about the potentials of rigorously understood efficiency analysis. But also managers or public officials potentially or dering efficiency studies should benefit from the book by learning about the extended capabilities of efficiency analysis. Just reading the intro duction may change their perception of value for money when it comes to comparative performance measurement."

This book clarifies several ambiguous arguments and claims in finance and the theory of the firm. It also serves as a bridge between derivatives, corporate finance and the theory of the firm. In addition to mathematical derivations and theories, the book also uses anecdotes and numerical examples to explain some unconventional concepts. The main arguments of the book are: (1) the ownership of the firm is not a valid concept, and firms' objectives are determined by entrepreneurs who can innovate to earn excess profits; (2) the Modigliani-Miller capital structure irrelevancy proposition is a restatement of the Coase theorem, and changes in the firm's debt-equity ratio will not affect equity-holders' wealth (welfare), and equity-holders' preferences toward risk (or variance) are irrelevant; (3) all firms' resources are options, and every asset is both a European call and a put option for any other asset; and (4) that a first or residual claim between debt and equity is non-existent while the first claim among fixed-income assets can actually affect the market values of these assets.