Optimization in Economic Theory

by Avinash K. Dixit

Book Overview

Building on a base of simple economic theory and elementary linear algebra and calculus, this broad treatment of static and dynamic optimization methods discusses the importance of shadow prices, and reviews functions defined by solutions of optimization problems. Recently revised and expanded, the second edition will be a valuable resource for upper level undergraduate and graduate students.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198772106
• ISBN13: 9780198772101
• Release Date: September 1990
• Publisher: OUP UK
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Good Before Your First Year

If you haven't had a lot of math before entering an econ PhD program, this book is a great intro. I highly recommend if you need info on- Lagrange's method & Shadow prices- Value functions- Convex sets- Maximum Theorem- Dynamic ProgrammingIt's a quick read, but well worth your time.

Excellent supplement

This book is an excellent supplement for classroom lecture. I often used it to clarify methodology used in my graduate level macroeconomics course. The presentation of the maximum principle and Hamiltonians in dynamic optimization was most helpful. In about 10 pages he clarified what 6 hours of reviewing lecture notes could not.

elegant small book on economic theory

This book is a gem. Very clear exposition of the lagrange method and multipliers, and other optimization methods. Dixit finds economic intuition in every step of the math. I pick up this book anytime I need to remind myself how the mind of a clear economic thinker works. No personal economics library could be complete without it.

A lucid, definitive treatment of optimization techniques.

Prof. Dixit presents a lucid and definitive text on optimization techniques and their use in economics, providing the reader with a clear explanation not only of the mathematics but the intuition as well.

Dixit makes mathematical microeconomics understandable.

I used this book while taking a class with Professor Dixit at Princeton University. Unlike most economists, Dixit is a clear, comprehensible, and engaging author. Although the subject of the book sounds dry, Dixit shows not only how math can be applied to economics, but why it _must_ be. Dixit is a great economist and an even greater educator. Highly recommended for those that really want to understand economics.