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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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Dissertation
16 Dec 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the composition of tax revenues and properly estimated the income elasticities of various taxes, which can be used to design pro-growth tax policies and implement tax changes.
Abstract: Several studies have been undertaken on the responsiveness of tax revenues to changes in GDP in Kenya. These studies have found a positive relationship between tax revenues and GDP. However, the studies omit some key determinants of tax revenues, such as the nature of the tax system and institutional, demographic and structural features of the economy. Due to this omission, the estimated income elasticities of tax revenues are unreliable for planning purposes, a situation that might be responsible for recurring budget deficits. The main objective of this study was to examine the composition of tax revenues and properly estimate income elasticities of various taxes. The study is important because its results can be used to design pro-growth tax policies and implement tax changes that are

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Mark G. Nixon1
TL;DR: The economic theory of the consumer, which assumes individual satisfaction as its goal and individual freedom to pursue satisfaction as the sine qua non, has become an important ideological element in political economy.
Abstract: The economic theory of the consumer, which assumes individual satisfaction as its goal and individual freedom to pursue satisfaction as its sine qua non, has become an important ideological element in political economy. Some have argued that the political dimension of economics has evolved into a kind of “secular theology” that legitimates free market capitalism, which has become a kind of “religion” in the United States [Nelson: 1991, Reaching for Heaven on Earth: The Theological Meaning of Economics. (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, Savage, Maryland); 2001, Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond (The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania); Thurow: 1983, Dangerous Currents: The State of Economics (Random House, New York); Milbank: 1990, Theology and Social Theory, Beyond Secular Reason (Basil Blackwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts)]. Consumer theory in its ideological form provides an important base for this religion and is no longer merely a positive framework for understanding consumer choice or estimating market demand. The paper explores the view of the human being, the “anthropology,” that is implicit in the economic theory of the consumer and compares its “theological” implications with the corresponding theological anthropologies in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The paper outlines the assumptions of consumer theory and then focuses on three aspects of the theory from a critical theological perspective: the individual in community, property ownership, and human destiny (or “eschatology” in theological terminology). The principal conclusion is that consumer theory, viewed from this perspective, leads to a reductionist and existentially harmful view of human beings. The maximization of individual satisfaction raises genuine ethical issues when viewed as a political and religious value. The paper argues that the issues could be ameliorated if economists would include more explicit treatment of a social dimension and ethical alternatives in consumer theory and if theologians would give greater attention to economic theory.

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the state of the economy, measured using per capita income levels and unemployment rates, can influence the demand for public transport by bus with data from the city of Santander (Spain) for the period 2001-2012.

24 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for a subjective wellbeing approach to understand and assess people's wellbeing, which is not only to get people out of poverty, but also to get them into a life-satisfying situation.
Abstract: What is poverty? How poverty relates to people’s wellbeing? The concepts of poverty and of wellbeing are highly intertwined; however, there is little research on how specific conceptions of poverty relate to people’s wellbeing. This chapter revises the prevailing traditions in conceptualizing and assessing people’s wellbeing and how they end up being implemented in poverty studies. The chapter argues in favor of a subjective wellbeing approach to understand and assess people’s wellbeing. It is not only to get people out of poverty; it is also to get them into a life-satisfying situation. Poverty studies would benefit from placing greater attention to the essential experiences of being well people do have as well as to their overall assessment of life. A better theory of wellbeing could emerge on the basis of this information; and this would reflect in social programs that do really impact on people’s wellbeing.

24 citations

01 Oct 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical and empirical analysis of the economic impact of food aid on producer incentives in developing countries is presented, focusing on the so-called disincentive hypothesis, which argues that food aid tends to lower food prices, reduce domestic production and thus worsen the country's economic problems.
Abstract: This study is a theoretical and empirical analysis of the economic impact of food aid on producer incentives in developing countries. The special focus is on the so-called disincentive hypothesis, which argues that food aid tends to lower food prices, reduce domestic production and thus worsen the country's economic problems. The aim is to assess how valid is this disincentive effect of food aid on the agricultural production. For the evaluation of the disincentive effect, empirical data from Tanzanian agriculture was collected, the data covering years 1971-1996. The theoretical models of agricultural production were developed reflecting the institutional circumstances in Tanzania. The study starts with a review on the previous theoretical and empirical analyses of disincentive effect. A parametric market model for agricultural production with food aid is then formulated and analysed. Relative to the previous disincentive literature the theoretical model of agricultural production developed includes as a new element producer risk in the form of an uncertain crop price. Since Tanzanian food markets were divided into the official government controlled market and the illegal unofficial market, the supply model consists of a model for controlled markets with fixed prices and a model for unofficial markets with price risk. Based on the derived concepts of crop supply and market equilibrium, the disincentive hypothesis was tested with an econometric model of the market equilibrium in the unofficial market. Empirical findings did not indicate a statistically significant disincentive effect on the maize production. Instead it turned out that a price effect dominated the disincentive effect in the unofficial markets, since in years of low domestic production food aid was channelled to official markets and the unofficial markets reacted with higher prices. The incompletely integrated markets accentuated the situation, the more reliable yields of the Southern Highlands did not reach the deficient Northern areas and food aid and commercial imports tended to remain at the coast and in Dar es Salaam.

24 citations