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Microeconomics: Principles, Applications, and Tools, 10th edition

Published by Pearson (February 1, 2019) © 2020

  • Arthur O'Sullivan Oregon State University
  • Steven Sheffrin Tulane University
  • Stephen Perez California State University, Sacramento

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For principles of microeconomics courses.

An intro to key economic concepts, using engaging stories and timely applications

Students enter their first economics course hoping to gain a better understanding of the world around them, but often leave with unanswered questions. Microeconomics: Principles, Applications, and Tools is built upon the authors' philosophy of using basic concepts to explain a wide variety of relevant, current and engaging economic applications.

The 10th Edition incorporates the latest economic developments. By making every chapter relevant and applied, students develop an understanding of core principles they'll use as citizens and consumers, now and in their careers.

Hallmark features of this title

An emphasis on core principles

  • The text demystifies key concepts, making the course accessible to students of all majors and helping them understand the economics of the world around them.
  • 5 key principles are used throughout (opportunity cost, the marginal principle, diminishing returns, voluntary exchange, and real-nominal principle), so students see how ideas connect.

Concepts that connect to students’ daily lives and careers

  • Applying the Concept Questions and End-of-Chapter Application Exercises ask students to apply what they’ve just learned to real scenarios.
  • Economic Experiments actively involve students in role-playing as consumers, producers and policy makers. They stimulate student interest and are easy for professors to use in classes of any size.

New and updated features of this title

An emphasis on core principles

  • UPDATED: Coverage of the latest economic developments, including the continuing changes that the economy has experienced following the worldwide recession of the last decade, bring students up to speed on what’s happening at home and globally.

Concepts that connect to students’ daily lives and careers

  • UPDATED: Chapter-Opening Stories cover timely topics such as solar tax credits, crop insurance and food production, and the effects of craft beer popularity on hop prices.
  • UPDATED: 130 Applications, 18 of which are new to this edition, bring economic concepts to life. These include cutting-edge topics that students will relate to, such as the effect of a VAT tax on French restaurants, the opportunity cost of hosting an AirBnB, or the rationale for shutting down a coal mine.

Tools to promote skill development and career awareness

  • UPDATED: End-of-Chapter Critical-Thinking Questions challenge students to think more deeply about the topics and ideas within the chapters.
  • NEW: Economic Logic on the Job boxes discuss how economics promotes the critical-thinking and communication skills that employers are looking for.
  • UPDATED: Examples from real-world business, government and organizations show the practical deployment of economics to all sorts of decisions, imparting critical-thinking skills to workers in all kinds of organizations.

Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE for MyLab Economics (available for Fall 2022 classes)

Instructors, contact your sales rep to ensure you have the most recent version of the course.

  • NEW: Learning Catalytics questions help students see economics through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion and focus on growth, diverse markets, policy, etc.
  • NEW: With Podcast Exercises, students listen to a podcast and then answer questions about the economic principles covered within.
  • 27 NEW: Inclusive Economics Videos focus on topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion in economics, including the gender and racial wealth gap, inequality in the housing market, and the effect of inequality on the economy. They encourage students to critically think about models and messy data.

Features of MyLab Economics for the 10th Edition; published 2019

  • NEW: Pearson eText is an easy-to-use digital textbook, available with MyLab, which lets students read, highlight and take notes all in one place, even when offline.
  • Real-Time Data Analysis Exercises use up-to-the-minute, real-time data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s FREDâ„¢ site, to test students’ knowledge.
  • Digital Interactives are dynamic and engaging activities that use data from FRED to promote critical thinking and the application of key economic principles.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND KEY PRINCIPLES

  1. Introduction: What Is Economics?
  2. The Key Principles of Economics
  3. Exchange and Markets
  4. Demand, Supply, and Market Equilibrium

PART 2: A CLOSER LOOK AT DEMAND AND SUPPLY

  1. Elasticity: A Measure of Responsiveness
  2. Market Efficiency and Government Intervention
  3. Consumer Choice: Utility Theory and Insights from Neuroscience

PART 3: MARKET STRUCTURES AND PRICING

  1. Production Technology and Cost
  2. Perfect Competition
  3. Monopoly and Price Discrimination
  4. Market Entry and Monopolistic Competition
  5. Oligopoly and Strategic Behavior
  6. Controlling Market Power: Antitrust and Regulation

PART 4: EXTERNALITIES AND INFORMATION

  1. Imperfect Information: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
  2. Public Goods and Public Choice
  3. External Costs and Environmental Policy

PART 5: THE LABOR MARKET AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION

  1. The Labor Market and the Distribution of Income

PART 6: THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY

  1. International Trade and Public Policy

About our authors

Arthur O’Sullivan is a professor of economics at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After receiving his BS in economics at the University of Oregon, he spent two years in the Peace Corps, working with city planners in the Philippines. He received his PhD in economics from Princeton University in 1981 and has taught at the University of California, Davis, and Oregon State University, winning teaching awards at both schools. He is the author of the best-selling textbook Urban Economics, currently in its 10th edition, with translations into Russian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Serbian and Greek.

Professor O’Sullivan’s research explores economic issues concerning urban land use, environmental protection, and public policy. His articles have appeared in many economics journals, including the Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, National Tax Journal, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Law and Economics.

Professor O’Sullivan lives with his family in Portland, Oregon. For recreation, he enjoys hiking, kiteboarding, and squash.

Steven M. Sheffrin is professor of economics and executive director of the Murphy Institute at Tulane University. Prior to joining Tulane in 2010, he was a faculty member at the University of California, Davis, and served as department chairman of economics and dean of social sciences. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University, Oxford University, London School of Economics, and Nanyang Technological University, and he has served as a financial economist with the Office of Tax Analysis of the United States Department of the Treasury. He received his BA from Wesleyan University and his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Sheffrin is the author of 10 other books and monographs and over 100 articles in the fields of macroeconomics, public finance, and international economics. His most recent books include Rational Expectations (2nd edition) and Property Taxes and Tax Revolts: The Legacy of Proposition 13 (with Arthur O’Sullivan and Terri Sexton).

Professor Sheffrin has taught macroeconomics and public finance at all levels, from general introduction to principles classes (enrollments of 400) to graduate classes for doctoral students. He is the recipient of the Thomas Mayer Distinguished Teaching Award in economics.

He lives with his wife Anjali (also an economist) in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has 2 daughters who have studied economics. In addition to a passion for current affairs and travel, he plays a tough game of tennis.

Stephen J. Perez is Vice Provost, a professor of economics, and NCAA faculty athletics representative at California State University, Sacramento. After receiving his BA in economics at the University of California, San Diego, he was awarded his PhD in economics from the University of California, Davis, in 1994. He taught economics at Virginia Commonwealth University and Washington State University before coming to California State University, Sacramento, in 2001. He teaches macroeconomics at all levels as well as econometrics, sports economics, labor economics, and mathematics for economists.

Professor Perez’s research explores most macroeconomic topics. In particular, he is interested in evaluating the ability of econometric techniques to discover the truth, issues of causality in macroeconomics, and sports economics. His articles have appeared in many economics journals, including the Journal of Monetary Economics; Econometrics Journal; Economics Letters; Journal of Economic Methodology; Public Finance and Management; Journal of Economics and Business; Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics; Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking; Applied Economics; and Journal of Macroeconomics.

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