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ID:7320845
大小:365.56 KB
页数:18页
时间:2018-02-11
《microeconomic theory economic models》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在工程资料-天天文库。
1、CHAPTERONEEconomicModelsThemaingoalofthisbookistointroduceyoutothemostimportantmodelsthatecono-mistsusetoexplainthebehaviorofconsumers,firms,andmarkets.Thesemodelsarecentraltothestudyofallareasofeconomics.Therefore,itisessentialtounderstandboththeneedforsuchmodelsandthebasicframeworkusedtodevelopt
2、hem.Thegoalofthischapteristobeginthisprocessbyoutliningsomeoftheconceptualissuesthatdeterminethewaysinwhicheconomistsstudypracticallyeveryquestionthatintereststhem.TheoreticalModelsAmoderneconomyisacomplicatedentity.Thousandsoffirmsengageinproducingmil-lionsofdifferentgoods.Manymillionsofpeoplewor
3、kinallsortsofoccupationsandmakedecisionsaboutwhichofthesegoodstobuy.Let’susepeanutsasanexample.Pea-nutsmustbeharvestedattherighttimeandshippedtoprocessorswhoturnthemintopeanutbutter,peanutoil,peanutbrittle,andnumerousotherpeanutdelicacies.Theseprocessors,inturn,mustmakecertainthattheirproductsarr
4、iveatthousandsofretailoutletsintheproperquantitiestomeetdemand.Becauseitwouldbeimpossibletodescribethefeaturesofeventhesepeanutmarketsincompletedetail,economistshavechosentoabstractfromthecomplexitiesoftherealworldanddeveloprathersimplemodelsthatcapturethe‘‘essentials.’’Justasaroadmapishelpfuleve
5、nthoughitdoesnotrecordeveryhouseoreverystore,economicmodelsof,say,themarketforpeanutsarealsousefuleventhoughtheydonotrecordeveryminutefeatureofthepeanuteconomy.Inthisbookwewillstudythemostwidelyusedeconomicmodels.Wewillseethat,eventhoughthesemodelsoftenmakeheroicabstractionsfromthecomplexitiesoft
6、herealworld,theynonethelesscaptureessentialfeaturesthatarecommontoalleconomicactivities.Theuseofmodelsiswidespreadinthephysicalandsocialsciences.Inphysics,thenotionofa‘‘perfect’’vacuumoran‘‘ideal’’gasisanabstractionthatpermitsscientiststostudyreal-worldphenomenainsimplifiedsettings.Inchemistry,the
7、ideaofanatomoramoleculeisactuallyasimplifiedmodelofthestructureofmatter.Architectsusemock-upmodelstoplanbuildings.Televisionrepairersrefertowiringdiagramstolocateprob-lems.Economists’modelsperformsimilarfunctions.Theypr
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