英文版中级微观经济学课件范里安第1章.ppt

Intermediate Microeconomics Introduction Contents Instructor and TAs Requirements Course outline An example: market for apartments Textbook Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach (Sixth Edition) by Hal R. Varian W. W. Norton， 2003 Is Economics Useful? A thinking machine Changes the way you view life and understand problems An all round major Economics Graduates Jobs for Economists Business economists Government economists Academic economists Microeconomics Theory Applications Labor economics Economics of education Agricultural economics Industrial organizations Health economics …… Course Outline Consumer theory (1-15) Producer theory (18-27) Market equilibrium (16-17, 30-32) Special topics on equilibrium Economic Modeling What causes what in economic systems? At what level of detail shall we model an economic phenomenon? Which variables are determined outside the model (exogenous) and which are to be determined by the model (endogenous)? Modeling the Apartment Market How are apartment rents determined? Suppose apartments are close or distant, but otherwise identical distant apartments rents are exogenous and known many potential renters and landlords Modeling the Apartment Market Who will rent close apartments? At what price? Will the allocation of apartments be desirable in any sense? How can we construct an insightful model to answer these questions? Two Principles in Economics Optimization: Each person tries to choose the best alternative available to him or her. Equilibrium: Market price adjusts until quantity demanded equals quantity supplied. Modeling Apartment Demand Demand: Suppose the most any one person is willing to pay to rent a close apartment is $500/month. Then p = $500 ? QD = 1. Suppose the price has to drop to $490 before a 2nd person would rent. Then p = $490 ? QD = 2. Modeling Apartment Demand The lower is the rental rate p, the larger is the quantity of close apartments demanded p ? ? QD ?. The quantity demanded vs. price gr