Publisher's Synopsis
This four-volume Handbook of Economy-wide Microeconomics is presented in a comprehensive, up-to-date and accessible manner. The Handbook guides the reader through the major features of Economy-wide Microeconomics, starting with a detailed description of the classic Arrow-Debreu model of the economy and concluding with a discussion of research aimed at relaxing various Arrow-Debreu conditions. The layout of the Handbook covers the following themes: existence of equilibrium, uniqueness of equilibrium, stability of equilibrium, optimality of equilibrium allocations, comparative statics of equilibrium states and empirical testing for equilibrium states. Each of these themes is explored in competitive, Walrasian and non-competitive environments.Most 'applied economics' - beyond simple partial equilibrium exercises that ignore important feedback loops across the economy - falls under the umbrella of Economy-wide Microeconomics. One therefore has to be selective in the applications considered here. Those applications include: optimal responses to climate change; the gains from international trade; Pareto improving piecemeal reforms; gains from international migration; managing global financial crises; a Tobin tax; the economics of global pandemics; and the welfare properties of imperfect competition.Exercises are placed throughout the Handbook, with references to places in the literature where complete solutions to them may be found. This is done in order to build the reader's experience of the research literature as a vast and wonderful resource. The author is grateful to Honours, Master's and PhD students at Macquarie University and The University of Sydney whose reactions, comments and observations about the material in this Handbook have been immensely beneficial.
