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It is important that students have good skills in algebra and a modest understanding of differential calculus, especially partial derivatives; optimization with linear constraints (utility maximization with budget constraints); minimizing linear functions with nonlinear constraints (e.g., minimizing the linear cost of a [convex] level of utility, or minimizing the linear cost of a [convex] rate of production).
It would be valuable to entering students if they reviewed carefully Chapter 2 (the brief math review) in Walter Nicholson, Microeconomic Theory, 7th edition, 1998, before starting master's courses. This material previews the mathematics to be used in Economics 607.
The material in Nicholson is a much-condensed discussion of algebra and
calculus covered more fully in Alpha Chiang, Fundamental Methods of
Mathematical Economics, 3rd (latest) edition, McGraw-Hill, 1984:
- Chapter 2 Economic Models
- Chapter 6 Comparative Statics and Derivatives
- Chapter 7 Rules of Differentiation
- Chapter 9 Optimization: A Special Variety of Equilibrium Analysis
- Chapter 10 Exponential and Logarithmic Functions
- Chapter 11 The Case of More Than One Choice Variable
- Chapter 12 Optimization with Equality Constraints
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