Buch, Englisch, 784 Seiten, Format (B × H): 183 mm x 260 mm, Gewicht: 1646 g
ISBN: 978-0-691-08934-8
Verlag: Princeton University Press
This book shows, from start to finish, how microeconomics can and should be used in the analysis of public policy problems. It is an exciting new way to learn microeconomics, motivated by its application to important, real-world issues. Lee Friedman's modern replacement for his influential 1984 work not only brings the issues addressed into the present but develops all intermediate microeconomic theory to make this book accessible to a much wider audience.Friedman offers the microeconomic tools necessary to understand policy analysis of a wide range of matters of public concern--including the recent California electricity crisis, welfare reform, public school finance, global warming, health insurance, day care, tax policies, college loans, and mass transit pricing. These issues are scrutinized through microeconomic models that identify policy strengths, weaknesses, and ideas for improvements. Each chapter begins with explanations of several fundamental microeconomic principles and then develops models that use and probe them in analyzing specific public policies.The book has two primary and complementary goals. One is to develop skills of economic policy analysis: to design, predict the effects of, and evaluate public policies. The other is to develop a deep understanding of microeconomics as an analytic tool for application--its strengths and extensions into such advanced techniques as general equilibrium models and pricing methods for natural monopolies and its weaknesses, such as behavioral inconsistencies with utility-maximization models and its limits in comparing institutional alternatives. The result is an invaluable professional and academic reference, one whose clear explanation of principles and analytic techniques, and wealth of constructive applications, will ensure it a prominent place not only on the bookshelves but also on the desks of students and professionals alike.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Mikroökonomie
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
- Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
Weitere Infos & Material
(S = Supplementary Section, O = Optional Section with Calculus) ALTERNATIVE COURSE DESIGNS xv PREFACE xvii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix PART ONE: MICROECONOMIC MODELS FOR PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS Chapter 1: Introduction to Microeconomic Policy Analysis 3 Policy Analysis and Resource Allocation 3 The Diverse Economic Activities of Governments 6 Policy-Making and the Roles of Microeconomic Policy Analysis 9 Organization of the Book 15 Conclusion 18 Chapter 2: An Introduction to Modeling: Demand, Supply, and Benefit-Cost Reasoning 19 Modeling: A Basic Tool of Microeconomic Policy Analysis 19 Demand, Supply, and Benefit-Cost Reasoning 25 Monday Morning, 6:45 A.M. Monday Morning, 9:00 A.M. Summary 33 Discussion Questions 35 Chapter 3: Utility Maximization, Efficiency, and Equity 36 A Model of Individual Resource Allocation 37 Efficiency 45 The General Concept Efficiency with an Individualistic Interpretation Efficiency in a Model of an Exchange Economy A Geometric Representation of the Model Relative Efficiency Equity 58 Equality of Outcome Is One Concept of Equity Equality of Opportunity Is Another Concept of Equity Integrating Equity-Efficiency Evaluation in a Social Welfare Function (S) Summary 66 Exercises 68 Appendix: Calculus Models of Consumer Exchange O 69 PART TWO: USING MODELS OF INDIVIDUAL CHOICE-MAKING IN POLICY ANALYSIS Chapter 4: The Specification of Individual Choice Models for the Analysis of Welfare Programs 79 Standard Argument: In-Kind Welfare Transfers Are Inefficient 81 Responses to Income and Price Changes 85 Response to Income Changes Response to Changes in a Good's Price Response to Price Changes of Related Goods Choice Restrictions Imposed by Policy 94 Food Stamp Choice Restriction: The Maximum Allotment Food Stamp Choice Restriction: The Resale Prohibition Public Housing Choice Restrictions S Income Maintenance and Work Efforts The Labor-Leisure Choice Work Disincentives of Current Welfare Programs The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Interdependent Preference Arguments: In-Kind Transfers May Be Efficient S 113 Summary 118 Exercises 120 Appendix: The Mathematics of Income and Substitution Effects O 121 Chapter 5: The Analysis of Equity Standards: An Intergovernmental Grant Application 124 Equity Objectives 124 Intergovernmental Grants 135 Design Features of a Grant Program 136 Income Effects and Nonmatching Grants Price Effects and Matching Grants The Role of Choice Restrictions Alternative Specifications of Recipient Choice-Making Equity in School Finance 146 The Equity Defects Identified in Serrano The Design of Wealth-Neutral Systems Other Issues of School Finance Equity Summary 158 Exercises 160 Appendix: An Exercise in the Use of a Social Welfare Function as an Aid in Evaluating School Finance Policies O 162 Chapter 6: The Compensation Principle of Benefit-Cost Reasoning: Benefit Measures and Market Demands 169 The Compensation Principle of Relative Efficiency 171 The Purpose of a Relative Efficiency Standard The Hicks-Kaldor Compensation Principle Controversy over the Use of the Compensation Principle Measuring Benefits and Costs: Market Statistics and Consumer Surplus 179 An Illustrative Application: Model Specification for Consumer Protection Legislation S 193 Problems with Measuring Individual Benefit S 197 Three Measures of Individual Welfare Change Empirical Evidence: Large Differences among the Measures Summary 208 Exercises 210 Appendix: Duality, the Cobb-Douglas Expenditure Function, and Measures of Individual Welfare O 212 Chapter 7: Uncertainty and Public Policy 220 Expected Value and Expected Utility 222 Risk Control and Risk-Shifting Mechanisms 235 Risk-Pooling and Risk-Spreading Policy Aspects of Risk-Shifting and Risk Control Alternative Models of Individual Behavior under Uncertainty 243 The Slumlord's Dilemma and Strategic Behavior Bounded Rationality Moral Hazard and Medical Care Insurance 254 Information As
