For this fourth edition of a text for students of economics, Chiang (University of Connecticut) and Wainwright (British Columbia Institute of Technology) add new chapters on the envelope theorem, advanced topics in optimization, and optimal control theory, and delete a chapter on mathematical programming. The book can serve as a text for a course o.
In this volume Dr. Chiang introduces readers to the most important methods of dynamic optimization used in economics. The classical calculus of variations, optimal control theory, and dynamic programming in its discrete form are explained in the usual Chiang fashion--with patience and thoroughness. The economic examples, selected from both classical and recent literature, serve not only to illustrate applications of the mathematical methods, but also to provide a useful glimpse of the development of thinking in several areas of economics. Outstanding features (1) written with clarity and a comparable level of expository patience; (2) reinforces discussions of mathematical techniques with numerical illustrations, economic examples, and exercise problems; (3) presents a simple problem with a well- known solution in several different alternative formulations in the numerical illustrations; and (4) explains economic models in a step-by-step manner (from the initial construction through the intricacies of mathematical analysis to its final solution). Titles of related interest also available from Waveland Ekelund-Hebert, A History of Economic Theory and Method, Fifth Edition (ISBN 9781577664864); and Gramlich, A Guide to Benefit-Cost Analysis, Second Edition (ISBN 9780881339888).
In this book, Chiang teaches the basic mathematical methods indispensable for understanding current economic literature. The book's patient explanations are written in an informal, non-intimidating style. To underscore the relevance of mathematics to economics, the author allows the economist's analytical needs to motivate the study of related mathematical techniques; he then illustrates these techniques with appropriate economics models. Graphic illustrations often visually reinforce algebraic results. Many exercise problems serve as drills and help bolster student confidence. These major types of economic analysis are covered: statics, comparative statics, optimization problems, dynamics, and mathematical programming. These mathematical methods are introduced: matrix algebra, differential and integral calculus, differential equations, difference equations, and convex sets