Includes bibliographical references and index.

An Introduction to Economics, 5th Edition
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 What is Economics?
Introduction – the Essence of Economics
Opportunity Cost
Scarcity
What is an Economic Problem?
Objectives of choice
The Mechanism of Allocating
Scarce Resources
The Scientific Approach to Economics
Problems Faced by Scientific Economists
Path dependency
Cause-and-effect relationships
If a theory is shown to be valid, will it always be valid?
Conclusion
Exercise on Material in Chapter 1
2 Explaining the Behaviour of Individuals: Theory of Consumer Choice
Introduction – the Concept of Utility
The Margin
Free Goods
Theories of Consumer Choice
Utility Theory of Consumer Choice
Objections to the Utility Theory
An Indifference Theory of Consumer Choice
Income effect
Price effect
Demand, Marginal Utility and Consumer Surplus
‘Lumpy’ commodities
The Stable and the Unstable Equilibrium
Exercise on Material in Chapter 2
3 Demand and Supply: the Price Mechanism in a Market Economy
Introduction
Demand and supply curves
The Theory of Demand
Household and market demand
Factors affecting demand
How demand for a commodity varies with the price of that commodity
What determines the sensitivity of the quantity demanded to price?
Significance of price elasticity of demand (EDp ) to agriculture
How demand for a commodity varies with the income of consumers
Income elasticity of demand: quantity and expenditure measures
Engel’s Law
Significance of income elasticity of demand (EDy) to agriculture
How demand for a commodity is affected by changes in price of competitive and complementary goods
Competitive goods
Complementary goods
How demand is affected by tastes of consumers
Additional factors influencing market demand
Shifts along the demand curve and shifts of the whole demand curve for a commodity
Theory of Supply
The meaning of supply, and factors that determine it
How the supply of a commodity changes with changes in that commodity’s price
What influences the elasticity of supply?
Elasticity of supply with rising and falling prices
How the supply of a commodity depends on the prices of all the other commodities which are within th
How the supply of a commodity depends on the prices of factors of production
How the supply of a commodity depends on the state of technology
How the supply of a commodity depends on the goals of firms
Notes
Exercise on Material in Chapter 3
4 Markets and Competition
Introduction
Functions of the Price System
Imperfect Competition in Markets – Markets that are Not ‘Perfect’
The Individual Producer in Perfect Competition
The Perfectly Competitive Industry
A Firm Operating under Imperfect Competition
Arguments against monopoly
Arguments for monopoly
Use of Monopoly Power in Agriculture
Discriminating monopoly
A Monopsonist – the Single Buyer
Oligopoly and Oligopsony
Price Movements in Agriculture
The long-term trend
Medium-period booms or slumps
Price cycles
Seasonal price variations
Exercise on Material in Chapter 4
5 Production Economics: Theory of the Firm
Introduction – the Scope of Production Economics
Questions facing the entrepreneur
Major relationships studied in production economics
Optimizing the Factor–Product Relationship
Diminishing returns
What is the most profitable level of fertilizer to use?
Product and value product
The most profitable level of input
The ‘total’ approach
The ‘marginal’ approach
Changes in costs and prices
How many optima are there?
An alternative approach to optimizing the factor–product relationship
The optimum level of output
Price and cost changes
Reconciling the methods of optimizing the factor–product relationship
Optimizing the Factor–Factor Relationship
Cost and the optimum combination of inputs
Changes in the price of inputs: price substitution effect
The effect of expanding the scale of operation
Optimizing the Product–Product Relationship
Revenue and the optimum combination of products
Changes in relative prices of products
Straight line iso-resource curves
Complementary products
Time and Scale of Production
Fixed costs and variable costs
What is the lowest price at which beer will be produced?
Economies and diseconomies of scale
Sources of economies of scale
Disadvantages of large-scale production
Is there an optimum scale of operation?
Change in the Supply of Farm Products – Technological Advance
Technological advance
Impacts of advances in technology on the three central relationships
Types of innovation seen from the farm level
Implications for the agricultural industry
Implications for the national economy
Industry, regional and national consequences of technological advance
The ‘treadmill’ of technological advance
Rates of diffusion of new technology
Information
Uncertainty
Capital aspects
Management requirements
Factor and product pricing
Model of the process of innovation by farmers
Farmers as fast or slow adopters
The future direction of technological change
Note
Exercise on Material in Chapter 5
6 Factors of Production and their Rewards: Theory of Distribution
Introduction
The nature of production
Specialization and exchange
Classification of factors of production
Land as a Factor of Production
Capital as a Factor of Production
Capital in the process of economic development
Labour as a Factor of Production
Entrepreneurship as a Factor of Production
The origins of risk and uncertainty
Difference between risk and uncertainty
Avoidance of risk and uncertainty
Mobility of the Factors of Production and Unemployment
Occupational mobility
Geographical mobility
Unemployment of the Factors of Production
Allocation of the Factors of Production and their Rewards
Demand and supply of factors of production
Dynamic and equilibrium differentials
Economic rent in the reward to factors of production
Normal profits, surplus profits and monopoly profits
The functions of profit
Exercise on Material in Chapter 6
7 Market Failure: Some Problems of Using the Market to Allocate Resources
Introduction
Adam Smith and the ‘invisible hand’
The Value Judgements of Society
Imperfect Competition
Monopoly
Transaction Costs
Externalities Associated with Production and Consumption
Public goods
Imperfect Knowledge by Consumers
Macroeconomic Reasons for Intervening in the Market System
Exercise on Material in Chapter 7
8 Macroeconomics: the Workings of the Whole Economy
Introduction
The Circular Flow of Income
The multiplier
The Level of Aggregate Demand
Determining the equilibrium level of national income
Policies to control unemployment
Full Employment and the Longer Term
Inflation
The Quantity Theory of Money
Economic Growth
The Costs of Economic Growth
Exercise on Material in Chapter 8
9 International Trade
Introduction
Diversity of resources between countries
Theory of Comparative Advantage
Trade in surpluses
Comparative and Absolute Advantage
Limits of specialization
Geometrical representation
Extension of the simple model
Many countries
Many commodities
Transactions Involving Currencies
Flexible exchange rates
Monetary Union
Assumptions in the Theory of Comparative Advantage
Static or dynamic conditions
Full employment of resources
Distribution of the gains from trade
Arguments put in support of trade restrictions
To protect against competition from cheap labour countries
To prevent dumping
To raise revenue
For retaliation
To ‘export’ unemployment
For social or security reasons
Balance of Payments
Monetary Matters
Government manipulation of the trade balance and exchange rates
Exercise on Material in Chapter 9
10 Government Policy for Agriculture and Rural Areas
Introduction
Why do governments get involved with the economy?
The Policy Process
1. Problem formulation
2. Policy formulation
3. Policy implementation
4. Policy effect
Government, Agriculture and Rural Areas
Agriculture and general policy aims
Policy for rural areas
Policies designed specifically for the problems of agriculture
Policy in Practice
Some tools of market intervention
Quota - quantity restriction
Other policy instruments in use
Agri-environmental policy instruments
The Future Nature of Agricultural and Rural Development Policy
Exercise on Material in Chapter 10
Appendix 1 Essay Questions
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Appendix 2 Suggested Answers and Explanations for the Exercises following each Chapter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
References
Suggested Further Reading
General texts to supplement all chapters of this book
Texts specific to the economics of agriculture
Farm production economics
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and public decision making
The policy process
Index
Back Cover

"A simple but effective introduction to economics. Fully updated and revised, this fifth edition covers the impacts of Brexit, animal welfare, sustainable agriculture, and the importance of natural, social and cultural capital on agricultural economics. It is an invaluable learning tool for students of agriculture, economics and related sectors"--

Also issued in electronic format.