Readings

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Textbooks

[MWG] Amazon logo Mas-Collel, Andreu, Michael D. Whinston, and Jerry R. Green. Microeconomic Theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780195073409.

Some students have also found the following books helpful:

[JR] Amazon logo Jehle, Geoffrey, and Philip Reny. Advanced Microeconomic Theory. 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 2000. ISBN: 9780321079169.

[Kreps] Amazon logo Kreps, David. A Course in Microeconomic Theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 1990. ISBN: 9780745007625.

[Varian] Amazon logo Varian, Hal. Microeconomic Analysis. 3rd ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 1992. ISBN: 9780393957358.

Readings by Session

SES # TOPICS READINGS
1-4 Part 1: Demand theory

Required readings

Classical Demand Theory: MWG, sections 2.B-2.E, 3.D-E, and 3.G-H

Demand Aggregation: MWG, sections 4.A, 4.B, and 4.D

Price Changes and Welfare: JR, section 4.3.1

Suggested readings

Diamond, P., and D. McFadden. "Some Uses of the Expenditure Function in Public Finance." Journal of Public Economics 3, no. 1 (1974): 3-21.

Moss, William. "Some Uses of the Expenditure Function in Public Finance: A Comment." Journal of Public Economics 5, nos. 3-4 (April-May 1976): 373-379.

Milgrom, Paul, and Ilya Segal. "The Envelope Theorem for Arbitrary Choice Sets." Econometrica 70, no. 2 (2002): 583-601.

Amazon logo Hausman, Jerry. "Valuation of New Goods under Perfect and Imperfect Competition." In The Economics of New Goods. Edited by T. F. Bresnahan and R. J. Gordon. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997, pp. 209-248. ISBN: 9780226074153. (Also available as National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 4970, December 1994.)

Gordon, Robert J. "The Boskin Commission Report and Its Aftermath." National Bureau of Economic Research Working paper No. 7759, June 2000.

Pakes, Ariel. "A Reconsideration of Hedonic Price Indices with an Application to PCs." American Economic Review 93, no. 5 (December 2003): 1578-1596.

5-6 Part 2: Producer theory

Required readings

Monopoly Pricing: MWG, section 12.B, sections 5.B-5.C

Competitive Producer Theory and Robust Comparative Statics: MWG, sections 5.B-5.C

Suggested readings

Athey, Susan, Paul Milgrom, and John Roberts. "Robust Comparative Statics." Unpublished monograph, 1998, sections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.6, pp. 1-8.

Acemoglu, D. "Equilibrium Bias of Technology." Econometrica 75, no. 5 (September 2007): 1371-1410.

Milgrom, P., and J. Roberts. "The LeChatelier Principle." American Economic Review 85 (1996): 997-999.

Roberts, K. "Rationality and the LeChatelier Principle." Journal of Economic Theory 87 (1999): 416-428.

Amazon logo Topkis, D. Supermodularity and Complementarity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780691032443.

7-8 Part 3: Partial equilibrium competitive markets

Required readings

Competitive markets, Externalities, and Public Goods: MWG, chapters 10 and 11

Duality: JR, section 4.1

Suggested readings

Amazon logo Dasgupta, P., and G. Heal. Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1980, chapter 3. ISBN: 9780521297615.

Farrell, J. "Information and the Coase Theorem." Journal of Economic Perspectives 1, no. 2 (Fall 1987): 113-129.

Diamond, P. "Consumption Externalities and Imperfect Corrective Pricing." Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1973): 526-538.

Dixit, A., and M. Olson. "Does Voluntary Participation Undermine the Coase Theorem?" Journal of Public Economics 76, no. 3 (June 2000): 309-335.

Kaplow, L., and S. Shavell. "On the Superiority of Corrective Taxes to Quantity Regulation." Discussion Paper No. 215. Cambridge, MA: John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business, Harvard Law School, 1997.

Green, J., and E. Sheshinski. "Direct vs. Indirect Remedies for Externalities." Journal of Political Economy 84, no. 4, pt. 1 (August 1976): 797-808.

Lipsey, R. G., and K. Lancaster. "The General Theory of the Second-best." Review of Economic Studies 24, no. 1 (1956): 11-32.

Weitzman, M. "Free Access vs. Private Ownership as Alternative Systems for Managing Common Property." Journal of Economic Theory 8, no. 2 (June 1974): 225-234.

———. "Prices vs. Quantities." Review of Economic Studies 41, no. 4 (October 1974): 477-492.

Coase, R. "The Problem of Social Cost." Journal of Law and Economics 3, no. 1 (October 1960): 1-44.

Jehiel, P., and B. Moldovanu. "Resale Markets and the Assignment of Property Rights." Review of Economic Studies 66, no. 4 (October 1999): 971-991.

Gomes, A., and P. Jehiel. "Dynamic Processes of Social and Economic Interactions: On the Persistence of Inefficiencies." Journal of Political Economy 113, no. 3 (June 2005): 626-667.

9-13 Part 4: General equilibrium

Required readings

General Equilibrium Theory: MWG, chapters 15, 16, 17, and 18

Pure Exchange, General Equilibrium, the Competitive Firm, and Perfect Competition: Kreps, chapters 6 and 8

Exchange, Production, Convexity, and Uniqueness: Varian, chapters 17, 18, and sections 21.2 and 21.3

Suggested readings

Amazon logo Debreu, G. Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1972, pp. 98-102. ISBN: 9780300015591.

Debreu, G., and H. Scarf. "A Limit Theorem on the Core of an Economy." International Economic Review 4, no. 3 (September 1963): 235-246.

Blackorby, C. "Economic Policy in a Second-best Environment." Canadian Journal of Economics 23, no. 4 (1990): 748-771.

Gul, F., and E. Stacchetti. "Walrasian Equilibrium with Gross Substitutes." Journal of Economic Theory 87, no. 1 (1999): 95-124.

Gale, D., and L. S. Shapley. "College Admissions and the Stability of Marriage." American Mathematical Monthly 69, no. 1 (January 1962): 9-15.

Amazon logo Roth, A., and M. Sotomayor. Two-Sided Matching: A Study in Game-Theoretic Modeling and Analysis. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780521437882.

14 Summary