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Intermediate microeconomics : A modern approach
01 Jan 2006-
TL;DR: The Varian approach as mentioned in this paper gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation, and is still the most modern presentation of the subject.
Abstract: This best-selling text is still the most modern presentation of the subject. The Varian approach gives students tools they can use on exams, in the rest of their classes, and in their careers after graduation.
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TL;DR: A review of some of Coase's most influential papers and their implications for the future of public policy and economic theory can be found in this article, where the authors consider a world of continuing evolutionary change rather than static equilibrium.
Abstract: Ronald Coase's work presents a continuing challenge to the established neoclassical paradigm. His incorporation of transactions cost into economic theory enables many questions of organisational structure to be addressed but also implies a world of continuing evolutionary change rather than static equilibrium. This article reviews some of Coase's most influential papers and considers their implications for the future of public policy and economic theory.
6 citations
Cites background from "Intermediate microeconomics : A mod..."
...Even in modern textbooks on microeconomics, the theory of the firm and its associated ‘cost curves’ are founded on the ‘production function’ – the physical relationship between ‘output’ and ‘input’ – determined by the available technology (see e.g. Varian 2009, chs 18–22)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a demonstration and explanation of short-run marginal costs that are lower than long run marginal costs is given. But the authors do not consider the long-run costs.
Abstract: A demonstration and explanation of short-run marginal costs that are lower than long-run marginal costs.
6 citations
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01 Sep 2009
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a family of simulation models of agents with energy from social interactions and compare the behaviour of each model and choice of payoff function through experiments to test claims derived from Cross & Parker: namely that energisers cause greater take up of their ideas, cause larger cultural groups to form around them, and raise the problem-solving performance of the agent population.
Abstract: We present a family of simulation models of agents with energy from social interactions. We take the concept of “energy” from social network analysts Cross & Parker, from Collins’s micro-sociology of interaction rituals, and from the social psychologists Ryan & Deci’s studies on intrinsic motivation. We use simulation models as “tools for thinking” about what energy is, and how it relates to the take up of ideas, the formation of cultural groups and the performance of work. Our models also provide insight into phenomena from studies of “communities of practice”, social capital and computer models of networks. Baker & Quinn have also developed simulations of agents with energy, and so we offer a critique of those. We develop our models as extensions of the Axelrod Cultural Model. Our family of energy models include those that ascribe “emotional energy” variously to individual agents, to agents’ individual attributes, and to agents’ memories of interactions rituals. Agents obtain energy payoffs from interactions based variously on their sense of autonomy, belongingness and competence. We compare the behaviour of each model and choice of payoff function through experiments to test claims derived from Cross & Parker: namely that “energisers” cause greater take up of their ideas, cause larger cultural groups to form around them, and raise the problem-solving performance of the agent population. We demonstrate this first claim for several model scenarios, but fail to find scenarios where the second two hold. We then conduct experiments to relate the capabilities of energisers to tasks of: disseminating ideas to otherwise homogeneous groups, and; spanning boundaries across cultural divides between groups. In all experiments we find two factors play critical roles in determining the diffusion and homogenisation of culture: the decay of energy charges on memories, and; the initial number of cultural traits in the population.
6 citations
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TL;DR: This analysis suggests that cutbacks in government programs may raise government liabilities and expansions may lower them, and quantitatively calibrates these non-standard effects for the US Medicare program.
Abstract: Many countries have large future public liabilities attributable to health care programs However, little explicit analysis exists about how health care policies affect these program liabilities We analyze how reimbursement and approval policies affect public liabilities through their impact on the returns to medical innovation, a central factor driving spending growth We consider how policies impact innovative returns through expected earnings, their risk-adjustment, and their timing and defaults through the approval process Our analysis implies that cutbacks in government programs may raise government liabilities and expansions may lower them We quantitatively calibrate these non-standard effects for the US Medicare program
6 citations