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 | | A Course in Microeconomic Theory by David M. Kreps ISBN-10: 9780691042640 ISBN-10: 0-691-04264-0 ISBN-13: 9780691042640 ISBN-13: 978-0-691-04264-0 Hardcover 1990-02-21 Princeton University Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description David M. Kreps has developed a text in microeconomics that is both challenging and "user-friendly." The work is designed for the first-year graduate microeconomic theory course and is accessible to advanced undergraduates as well. Placing unusual emphasis on modern noncooperative game theory, it provides the student and instructor with a unified treatment of modern microeconomic theory--one that stresses the behavior of the individual actor (consumer or firm) in various institutional settings. The author has taken special pains to explore the fundamental assumptions of the theories and techniques studied, pointing out both strengths and weaknesses. The book begins with an exposition of the standard models of choice and the market, with extra attention paid to choice under uncertainty and dynamic choice. General and partial equilibrium approaches are blended, so that the student sees these approaches as points along a continuum. The work then turns to more modern developments. Readers are introduced to noncooperative game theory and shown how to model games and determine solution concepts. Models with incomplete information, the folk theorem and reputation, and bilateral bargaining are covered in depth. Information economics is explored next. A closing discussion concerns firms as organizations and gives readers a taste of transaction-cost economics. | ||
Reviews | ||
Must read for serious microeconomists Kreps is different from the usual graduate-level Economics textbooks. There is no orderly march of 'lemmas', 'propositions' and 'theorems' supported by stern proofs. Instead you have examples that are taken apart to help build your intuition of how Microeconomics works, arguments that make you aware of the limitations of the standard models. But the story-telling is not at the cost of precision. Enough details and references are provided for the mathematically-inclined reader to build or find proofs. While all the standard micro topics are covered, the five chapters on game theory are truly exceptional in conveying the logic of the many equilibrium concepts of classical game theory and their relevance to economics. The treatment of choice theory is also much more careful than in many other books. These chapters set the stage for the detailed treatments in Notes On The Theory Of Choice (Underground Classics in Economics) and Game Theory and Economic Modelling (Clarendon Lectures in Economics). Comparison to MWG? MWG's style is the no-nonsense official style. If you want to efficiently learn the 'official version' of things for that exam you have coming up then MWG is the book to go to. MWG also has more exercises and it covers much more material than Kreps. Its treatment of general equilibrium theory is much superior. So if you can read only one book in graduate micro, I would recommend MWG. But if your purpose is to learn how to think about microeconomics, you cannot do without reading Kreps. | ||
A book to take into battle I cannot compare this book to MWG, which seems to be the market leader. However, this is a great book on its own merits. It provides a rigorous foundation for microeconomics, but it also has a great philosophical discussion of what the economics really means. For example, when introducing the assumption of assymetric preferences (there is no pair x,y such that x is strictly preferred to y and y is strictly preferred to x) it immediately goes into a good discussion of why this might not be true. Two counter-examples are given. In some cases consumers preferences change over time. This can be a problem for some economic models discussed later in the book. Secondly, framing can cause a preference change. He uses Khaneman's famous example of 600 people who will die in a flu - people will change their preferences based on how the question is framed (saving lives versus letting die). That is just one representative example. That may also be why this book has some negative reviews. Once you start philosophizing other people may disagree with you. But it is important to have the discussion to get thinking about what the models mean, and what they can't do. As Kreps points out, economics can be a shell game in which economists convince you the validity of their models based on simple cases and then stretch the limits of how it can be applied to unwarrented cases. This insight is why this is one of the best book's that I've read. | ||
he always says that it is leaved to you at the important spot. kreps says that it is left to you. i dislike this author. I need other books that explain in some more detail. the chapeter on choice under uncertainty need complementary book. | ||
Apart from the Rest... A Course in Microeconomic Theory is one of the best mainstream price theory texts available. There are mistakes in this book. Kreps takes Walrasian equilibrium a bit too seriously. He admits to the unreal nature of important parts of Walrasian equilibrium. He admits that it does not tell us how markets work, and that it omits important institutions, like money. Kreps refers to the Walrasian Auctioneer as fairly unrealistic (p 195), when the adjective utterly might be more fitting. He also takes 'benevolent social Dictators' too seriously. The next edition of this book would be much superior if the author were to pay more attention to Public Choice theory. However, he does explain economic concepts fairly well. This is not just an exercise in mathematical games. Much of the math that he uses is game theoretic. Kreps included an entire section on game theory. He uses more math than one really needs to understand economics, but the math that he does use is the most useful there is. There is an entire section on information economics. It goes farther than most other price theory texts in discussing this important topic, though not far enough. This books biggest strength is its' section on transaction costs theories of the firm. Here the author remedies much of the unreal character of price theory. This alone sets it apart from other mainstream texts. This book is the best at teaching mainstream economics. Kreps is modest in his claims about the realism regarding standard models of competitive equilibrium, and explains concepts and techniques well. He also focuses on the many of the right concepts and techniques. The main defect in this book is that it does not go far enough in adding realism to price theory. | ||
Save your money You are better off spending your money elsewhere. This book is not well written, and gives cursory treatment to many important areas of Micro theory. Compared to the other dominant Micro texts, it falls way short. | ||