Price Theory and Its Applications

Price Theory and its Applications is an authoritative collection of influential papers which illustrate with unusual force the uses and techniques of applied price theory. The collection includes articles by Nobel laureates as well as less well-known economists and covers North America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia. The articles selected display a variety of techniques from verbal exposition through geometric methods to sophisticated mathematical techniques such as optimal control theory and game theory.

The first section of the book provides an insight into the diversity of market institutions. Some classic questions in market dynamics are addressed in section two, which is followed by a section on the rationale and consequences of government interventions. Various aspects of monopoly power are explored in the next three sections which cover cartels and monopolies, so-called 'natural monopoly' situations and monopolistically competitive markets. In conclusion a more light-hearted example is offered.

Edited by the late Bernard Saffran, formerly Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College and F.M. Scherer, Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management in the Aetna Chair, Emeritus, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, US