All Questions
Tagged with macroeconomics microeconomics
243 questions
75
votes
13
answers
26k
views
Fundamental equations in economics
For the other sciences it´s easy to point to the most important equations that ground the discipline. If I want to explain Economics to a physicist say, what are considered to be the most important ...
- 2,799
51
votes
10
answers
4k
views
Seminal papers that later were proven to contain errors
I was reading on institutions, and I came across Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (AJR) paper on The Colonial Origins of comparative development: An Empirical Investigation, and this paper seemed so '...
- 5,121
16
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Most notable papers in Economics in 2021
This question is based on this one in Math Overflow
I understand that I can't simply 'translate' the question into the area of economics. Thus, I'm open to improvements on the question framework.
Here'...
- 5,121
12
votes
2
answers
312
views
Why use empirical macroeconomic models when they are not policy invariant (Lucas Critique)?
With high probability this question is duplicate, and I tried to find one already in the community, but I was unsuccessful.
According to the Lucas Critique, in its more general terms, the problem ...
- 5,121
10
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Mathematical Micro/Macro Economics Textbook Recommendation
I was formerly an economics major and now also majoring in mathematics.
I want a textbook that is rigorously based on mathematics; not just using mathematics whenever the author wants, but in a more ...
- 203
10
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Meaning of Additively Separable, Linear in X
Often I see both in micro and macro two common terminology :
Additively separable.
Linear in price or linear in probability.
I understand exactly as they sound by looking at the functional form ...
- 1,241
10
votes
5
answers
3k
views
The Sonnenschein-Mantel-Debreu results, what are the implications for macroeconomics?
I have always wondered why such a negative result such as Sonnenschein–Mantel–Debreu theorem (SMD) theorem is usually ignored or disregarded by practitioners, specially in macro.
The result roughly ...
- 1,463
10
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What makes a company too big to fail?
I have read the too big to fail Wikipedia and as far as I understand, a company is too big to fail (and thus will receive government bail-outs) if it's failure has a significant impact on an important ...
- 201
9
votes
1
answer
338
views
Challenging question on mathematical economics
I'm going through the paper of Acemoglu and Autor (2011, Handbook of Labor Economics)
Consider the following system of two equations:
\begin{equation}
\frac{A_M \alpha_M (I_H) M}{I_H - I_L} = \frac{...
- 430
8
votes
4
answers
28k
views
Why does increasing the money supply decrease the interest rate in layman's terms?
If money supply increases, then I will have more money in my pocket to spend more. I imagine that prices will also increase over time to adjust to there being more money in circulation. Is it because ...
- 193
7
votes
2
answers
791
views
on economic growth and Second Welfare theorem
While I was studying eighth edition of Mankiw's Macroeconomics, in chapter 9 on Economic Growth(pg. 245), the author mentions :
"Some economists have proposed increasing the incentive to save by ...
- 459
7
votes
1
answer
107
views
Aggregation and Labor Shares in a Static Model
I'm studying a recent article published by Autor et al. (QJE, 2024). The model is presented in Appendix, Section J. I'm working on solving the model, but I'm stuck at the final step, particularly with ...
- 430
6
votes
1
answer
320
views
How is labor disutility modeled in Arrow-Debreu model?
In DSGE models, utility function contains labor disutility components. But I cannot not see how labor disutility is incorporated in Arrow-Debreu-Mackenzie model.
- 63
6
votes
1
answer
217
views
Is there a reproducibility crisis in Economics?
I am an undergraduate economics student, and came across this paper by John Ionnadis on 'The Power of Bias in Economics Research'. the findings are quite bleak.
https://academic.oup.com/ej/article/...
- 191
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Where do computational economists work
Does anybody know what kind of work or where computational economists end up working? It seems most end up in research...
- 117
6
votes
2
answers
262
views
Is there a comprehensive list of all market failures ever discovered?
I'm looking for a complete run down of all different kinds of market failures;
Wikipedia has a list but I'm not sure if there might some obscure kinds of market failures that Wikipedia is missing. ...
- 61
5
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Economists Working At the Intersection of Pure Math and Economics
As a math student interested in economics I was recently reading some of the papers by Graciela Chichilnisky on social choice theory and some of her papers applying topology to other areas of ...
5
votes
4
answers
376
views
Explanation Rational Expectations
I am struggling understanding the concept of rational expectations. Can someone explain in simple words the concept of rational expectations? Does someone know a good (online) source explaining ...
- 53
5
votes
3
answers
180
views
Which think-tanks on economics do you use to keep up with the news?
Whenever I have spare time, I like to go to Bruegel site and check their section on publications in macroeconomics. Here I usually find small publications of 20 something pages. The size is just about ...
- 5,121
5
votes
2
answers
141
views
What was the original paper that showed that estimates of risk aversion from micro and macro are inconsistent?
One of the well known paradoxes in macroeconomics is that estimates of risk aversion from experimental micro data do not match the ones estimated from macro data.
I know there was an important paper ...
- 2,819
5
votes
1
answer
530
views
What does it mean if a economic model is internally consistent?
What does it mean if a economic model is internally consistent? What happens if it is not? Is it not closed anymore? Can it still be solved? Does it still have an equilibrium?
- 559
5
votes
2
answers
237
views
Research at the county-level: Macro or Micro?
Is research at the county-level considered applied micro or applied micro?
The standard undergrad definitions ("micro" = "individual", "macro" = "nation") are of no help with units of measurement ...
- 153
5
votes
1
answer
270
views
List of theoretical models of learning
What are the most advanced theoretical models about "learning" such as learning-by-doing or learning from others?
Overall, learning in economics spans different areas. Here there is a largely ...
- 163
5
votes
1
answer
518
views
Economics: inductive or deductive? Verificationism or falsificationism?
Question 1: Are economic theories and models developed using induction or deduction?
My view: If we gather historical evidence and figure "so, people tend to be like this and that so let's call this ...
- 51
5
votes
1
answer
708
views
Deriving average productivity from a CES production function
Following the work of Raurich et al. (2012) I got stuck trying to derive the average productivity starting from the following CES production function:
$$Y=A\left [ \alpha K^{\frac{\sigma -1}{\sigma }}...
- 175
5
votes
1
answer
843
views
What are the most used approximations in economics?
As I progress in my self-study, I'm tired of having to search for several different approximations techniques used in economic textbooks. Sometimes the authors don't even tell the reader they are ...
- 5,121
5
votes
2
answers
966
views
Does a Robinson Crusoe economy have a substitution effect and an income effect?
Consider a Robinson Crusoe economy. Let $c$ be consumption and let $l$ be leisure. Our utility function is defined as
$$U(c,l)$$
Geometrically, I think we can say his indifference curve should be ...
- 3,494
5
votes
1
answer
150
views
Teaching: from Microeconomics to Open-economy macro
I am a new faculty teaching MBA courses. Presently, I am teaching International Financial Management (IFM) and Macroeconomics. I have prepared the syllabus of macroeconomics based on first 9 chapters ...
- 123
5
votes
5
answers
276
views
What are good books on economic world history?
I am trying to find a book that covers human history with a special focus on economics. It should answer questions like:
What economic systems prevailed during which eras?
How did these systems work ...
- 181
5
votes
1
answer
293
views
How, with complete markets, do we have a representative agent?
I've read several texts stating that with a complete market assumption, there's always a representative agent lurking. How is it that by assuming complete markets, we're able to prove the existence of ...
- 5,121
5
votes
1
answer
2k
views
why is real wage divided by marginal product of labor often called real marginal cost?
As said in the title, why is real wage divided by marginal product of labor often called real marginal cost?
In mathematical formula, $mc_t = (W_t/P_t)/MPN_t$ where $MPN_t$ refers to marginal product ...
- 51
4
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Books for microeconomics and macroeconomics for selected topics
I am a mathematics undergraduate trying to self-learn some economics. I have no background in economics. I wish to know from which chapters of Hal Varian's "Intermediate Microeconomics" (7th edition) ...
- 248
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Math basics for Macro&Micro economics and econometrics
I have just been admitted to a graduate school for studies in economics and I major in public administration during my undergraduate time. I have learnt linear algebra, single variable calculus, ...
- 163
4
votes
3
answers
587
views
Literature Recommendation: Advanced Undergraduate Economics
I come from a strong quantitative background and am going to law school in the fall. I'm interested in financial product regulation and competition law. I have taken an introductory course in ...
- 41
4
votes
2
answers
189
views
Journal that sum up a research area
I would like to know if you know any scientific journal of economics that publishes meta-analysis, or that publish articles summary of a research area. For example I have seen in the past articles ...
- 457
4
votes
2
answers
212
views
Definition of economics
What is the accepted definition of economics?
I've read basically two versions, one that defines it as the study of scarcity and the other as the study of how to coordinate human desires given ...
- 51
4
votes
1
answer
256
views
Indifference curve - Does $dU = 0$ hold in higher dimensions? / Problem of integrability
In two dimensions, we have on an indifference curve that $dU=0$.
Does this apply to indifference objects in higher dimensions?
I was thinking that if $dU > 0$, then one is moving to a higher ...
- 370
4
votes
1
answer
123
views
Comparative Statics in Acemoglu's Article
I'm struggling to derive equation 8 from the paper by Acemoglu and Restrepo (AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2018).
Consider an economy where aggregate output is produced in perfect competition according ...
- 430
4
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Best resources to self-educate myself in economics
I want to learn Economics by myself and I'm looking to build a path with people who're in this field to how and in what order should I learn Economics, I did some research and I've found many ...
- 41
4
votes
1
answer
174
views
What is the economic intuition of prudence in the static case?
How can we interpret a "prudent" agent in the static case (i.e., someone with $u'''(\cdot)>0$)?
I understand that in a dynamic setting, someone exhibiting prudence would do precautionary ...
- 83
4
votes
1
answer
55
views
What happened to the Zimbabwe cash dollar after the introduction of Dollarization?
Let's say, before dollarization, I owned 1 million Zimbabwean dollars in cash and the next day dollarization went into effect.
So in dollarization, the current Zimbabwean dollars will be invalid and ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
171
views
Labour Market: simple macroeconomic modeling
I just started reviewing macroeconomic modeling for an upcoming entry exam, and I'm not sure about my answers in this application:
Suppose that the economy of a country has a representative firm ...
- 237
3
votes
2
answers
725
views
How was CES utility function derived?
Is there any book/papers that I can refer to the proof (derivation) of the CES utility function?
Or if anyone could help me with the derivation, I will be so much grateful to you.
3
votes
3
answers
381
views
Why are there estate taxes after the owner passes away?
Isn't it unfair for estates to be taxed after death? The person who bequeathed the estate probably purchased it with after tax money, so wouldn't it then be taxed twice? What is the purpose of the tax ...
- 31
3
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How was the Cobb Douglas function derived?
In economics and econometrics, the Cobb–Douglas production function is a particular functional form of the production function, widely used to represent the technological relationship between the ...
- 133
3
votes
2
answers
452
views
Statistical distribution of wages and wealth
How are wages distributed globally? Wages do not follow a normal distribution, do they? Is wealth distributed in the same way or differently?
3
votes
1
answer
125
views
What does the idea of a price chosen as numeraire entail (both economically and mathematically)? A dumb down explanation would be appreciated
I would love to have a clear-cut explanation or reference about the usefulness of a price chosen as a "numeraire" in the general equilibrium framework.
- 33
3
votes
1
answer
184
views
Is special case of utility function in "Intertemporal Substitution in Macroeconomics" also a special case of a Ramsey growth model utility function?
So in RBC and Ramsey-derived utility function, the following is usually the form of utility:
$$u(c,l) = c^{1-\sigma}(1 + \omega(l))$$
where $\omega(l)$ is arbitrary function of $l$, labor, that ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
201
views
Utility maximization for a household consisting of a woman and a man, with gender discrimination
Consider a household consisting of a woman and a man, with preferences over leisure and consumption given by:
$U(\overrightarrow{c},\overrightarrow{l}) = \ln{c} + \ln{l^F} + \ln{l^M}$
where $\...
- 2,351
3
votes
1
answer
49
views
What is the general rule for classifying factor that only shift one supply/demand curve or two supply/demand curve?
What is the general rule in words/mathematical description for a factor that only shifts one supply/demand curve or two supply/demand curves simultaneously?
It is pretty confusing to me, because no ...
- 743