Purpose

The book is designed as a main textbook in advanced undergraduate courses on microeconomics, information economics, and industrial organization or as a supplementary textbook in the first-year graduate course on microeconomic theory.

The book distinguishes itself from other textbooks in that it focuses on an in-depth treatment of a few core topics, rather than on a complete self-contained overview of the entire field of microeconomics.

Another distinct feature is that the book breaks with tradition and completely ignores the standard competitive analysis, and instead focuses on the more modern themes of imperfect competition, uncertainty and incomplete information, auctions, and incentives.

Prerequisites

The core sections of the book should be accessible to students with a working knowledge of intermediate microeconomics. Mathematical prerequisites are at an introductory/intermediate level, though openness towards mathematical thinking is essential. Given these prerequisites, a good part of the book should be well suited as a main textbook in advanced microeconomics, industrial organization, or information economics.

In an advanced undergraduate class one would make a selection from the core material and stay away from supplementary and more demanding topics marked “*”. The variety of issues leaves the instructor with a wide range of choices. Of course, in a graduate class one should include the starred sections, which are a substantial part of the book, depending upon the instructor's interests in the selection of topics.

By making different selections, the book can be used as textbook in microeconomics or in courses with an emphasis on industrial organization, information economics, applications of game theory, or auctions and incentives.