This book presents introductory economics material using standard mathematical tools, including calculus. It is designed for a relatively sophisticated undergraduate who has not taken a basic university course in economics. The book can easily serve as an intermediate microeconomics text. The focus of this book is on the conceptual tools. Contents: 1) What is Economics? 2) Supply and Demand. 3) The US Economy. 4) Producer Theory. 5) Consumer Theory. 6) Market Imperfections. 7) Strategic Behavior.
Policy makers often call for increased spending on infrastructure, which can encompass a broad range of investments, from roads and bridges to digital networks that will expand access to high-speed broadband. Some point to the near-term macroeconomic benefits, such as job creation, associated with infrastructure spending; others point to the long-term effects of such spending on productivity and economic growth. Economic Analysis and Infrastructure Investment explores the links between infrastructure investment and economic outcomes, analyzing key economic issues in the funding and management of infrastructure projects. It includes new research on the short-run stimulus effects of infrastructure spending, develops new estimates of the stock of US infrastructure capital, and explores incentive aspects of public-private partnerships with particular attention to their allocation of risk. The volume provides a reference for researchers seeking to study infrastructure issues and for policymakers tasked with determining the appropriate level and allocation of infrastructure spending.
There is a small and growing literature that explores the impact of digitization in a variety of contexts, but its economic consequences, surprisingly, remain poorly understood. This volume aims to set the agenda for research in the economics of digitization, with each chapter identifying a promising area of research. "Economics of Digitization "identifies urgent topics with research already underway that warrant further exploration from economists. In addition to the growing importance of digitization itself, digital technologies have some features that suggest that many well-studied economic models may not apply and, indeed, so many aspects of the digital economy throw normal economics in a loop. "Economics of Digitization" will be one of the first to focus on the economic implications of digitization and to bring together leading scholars in the economics of digitization to explore emerging research.
What effects do laws have? Do individuals drive more cautiously, clear ice from sidewalks more diligently, and commit fewer crimes because of the threat of legal sanctions? Do corporations pollute less, market safer products, and obey contracts to avoid suit? And given the effects of laws, which are socially best? Such questions about the influence and desirability of laws have been investigated by legal scholars and economists in a new, rigorous, and systematic manner since the 1970s. Their approach, which is called economic, is widely considered to be intellectually compelling and to have revolutionized thinking about the law. In this book Steven Shavell provides an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the economic approach to the building blocks of our legal system, namely, property law, tort law, contract law, and criminal law. He also examines the litigation process as well as welfare economics and morality. Aimed at a broad audience, this book requires neither a legal background nor technical economics or mathematics to understand it. Because of its breadth, analytical clarity, and general accessibility, it is likely to serve as a definitive work in the economic analysis of law.
Economic Analysis of the Arbitrator’s Function Bruno Guandalini Arbitration has become an important market, where arbitrators are rational economic agents maximizing their utility. Although this is self-evident, it is rarely discussed. This penetrating book is the first to comprehensively analyze the market for arbitrators and arbitrators’ economic role within it. In great depth, the author tackles such salient issues as the following: effect of perceived inefficiencies and high costs on arbitration legitimacy; alleged commercialization of the arbitrator’s function; possible ethical problem raised by financial remuneration for rendering justice; what motivates a person to arbitrate; market for arbitrators’ functioning and failures, providing a better understanding of how actors could behave in such a specific market; structural and artificial entry barriers; effect of an arbitrator’s strategic behavior on the arbitrator’s function; limitations on an arbitrator’s rationality; and preventing and correcting these limitations. Numerous references to customs and procedures in major arbitral jurisdictions and to international laws and conventions affecting the efficiency of the arbitrator’s function are included. Pursuing a non-prescriptive analysis, the author draws on the discipline of law and economics, rational choice theory, behavioral economics, and psychological work on bounded rationality. Understanding the arbitrator’s function as a legal institution that is influenced by the market, this pioneer in developing and systematizing the study of the market for arbitrators and how it works will prove of inestimable value to all stakeholders in the arbitration market. Arbitrators, policymakers, regulators, and academics will be enabled to open the way to a more efficient market for arbitrators and betterment in arbitration worldwide.
A collection of original research papers by a number of industrial organization economists active in the field of Research and Development theory and policy. It covers patent policy, the effects of market structure and the internal organization of the firm on R&D incentives and technical progress, and R&D cooperation and technological spillovers.
The ability to connect theoretical macroeconomics to the analysis of the economic and political performance of a given country is an essential skill for global investors. In Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance, David M. Currie takes a unique analytical approach to the subject, clearly demonstrating the relationship between theory and application in investing practices. This valuable book shows how to interpret country performance and provides the practising investor with sufficient background on economic principles to be able to understand and interpret country summaries that appear in business periodicals and other media. It covers key topics such as the Washington Consensus and the three major categories of economic decisions - fiscal policy, monetary policy and trade policy. It includes an important chapter on the political aspect of government performance, to give the reader an understanding of economic decisions in their true context. Country Analysis explains the reasoning behind the criteria used in evaluating country risk and economic performance, without the need for a sophisticated understanding of economics or mathematics. Each chapter includes a series of text boxes that include real-life examples from business periodicals to reinforce what is discussed and enable readers to practice identifying and interpreting relevant information. Practitioners making investment decisions in global markets, as well as students in MBA and other courses, will find this immensely practical book a valuable aid to critical decision making.
