Customer Reviews

Microeconomic Analysis, Third Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read three graduate level Microeconomic Thoery texts: Mas-Colell, et al. Microeconomic Theory, Varian's Microeconomic Analysis, and Krep's A Course in Microeconomic Theory.

Mas-Colell is generally the most detailed, inclusive book that must be on the shelf of any serious economist. It has its weak points; however, it is the best that there is for learning the microeconomic theory. Note that this book is generally the text of choice for the first year of graduate study at most all of the top econ programs.

The math requirements for getting the most out of this book are fairly heavy. With out a good math for economists course, this book is very difficult to use.

Kreps book takes on more of the game theory approach. This is very interesting for the game/decision theorist, and is a highly recommended in addition to Mas-Colell for those with these interests.

Varian is often used in masters degree level graduate programs, non-econ graduate programs, and lower-level econ phd programs.

It is not as intense as Mas-Colell. However, it is often very helpful in its own right. For students who are using Mas-Colell in their courses, but are struggling to grasp all of the concepts, Varian presents the information in a more "user-friendly" way. He spends more time explaining the concepts using english rather than math, which can be very helpful to someone just starting out.

At Cornell, Varian was helpful during the first semester of my microeconomic theory course, but provided virtually no help after that.

Additionally, I found the practice problems and examples in Varian very helpful when studying for exams.

In summary, all serious economists usually have Mas-Colell. Other than that, choose your additional books based on your needs and interests.

Varian is a very helpful book for first year grad students in economics. It's not as detailed as other texts, like Mas-Collel, Winston and Green, but it's simple and concise and as long as you can follow along with the mathematics, you'll be fine. I recommend this book as a very thorough micro text.

This textbook works wonders for graduates students in field other than economics (law, management science). It gives the concepts; it is easy to read; it is concise. So it useful for those who need to understand the concepts. For economists, Business PhD and all those who need to build on microeconomic concepts, Kreps or MasColell-Whinston-Green textbooks should be REQUIRED reading. This book is just too cursory in treating game theory, social choice, and also general/partial equilibrium. And econometrics and CAPM chapters should be books of their own.

Varian's book, without a major rework, is definitely starting to fade. The chapters are too short. The mathematical appendix is ill-written, and some of the chapters are ridiculous, like Econometrics. The time spent on those chapters could have been used to futher develop general equilibrium and game theory. I can almost go so far as to call this a master's level book. Mas-Colell is definitely the benchmark, but if you are still uncomfortable with the math level, then try Jehle/Reny...This book may be a little less daunting than Mas-Colell, but it contains excellent chapters on the relevant topics, a good math appendix, and even a brand new chapter on auctions and mechanism design. As for varian, there are many other better books now, so I would recommend one of those unless you want a sketch of micro theory.

This textbook works wonders for graduates students in law, management science. It is easy to read. But if you're a PhD student, this book won't be the best, you need books like Mas-Colell (Microeconomic Theory) or Debreu (Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium). This book is just too cursory in treating game theory, social choice, and also general/partial equilibrium.

If you are hunting for a terrific graduate-level text in microeconomic theory, pick up Varian's 3rd Ed. Microeconomic Analysis. The book is rigorous, but not at all overwhelming, and is replete with the kinds of exciting results that made you major in economics as an undergraduate. Moreover, the book is concise -- the author seems to recognize that taking a long time to explain relatively straightforward concepts is not a way to endear onesself to one's readers. (Unlike a certain very large and cumbersome graduate microeconomics textbooks that came out recently.)

I saw some comments about the book requiring topology. I beg to differ -- while the math requirements are nontrivial, they are not so severe as topology. Anyone with a good background in linear algebra and multivariate calculus will find the book approachable. A course in rigor and proof, such as "Foundations," might be useful, but one can pick up such details from Varian's text itself. Differential equations and Real Analysis help, but are by no means essential.

This is a terrific text for graduate and highly advanced undergraduate economics students. However, I suspect many graduate business students will find the mathematics unweildy and perhaps a bit unnecessary for their purposes.

This is probably hands down the most informative gradaute level text I have encountered in economics. Dr. Varian has managed to convey the basic graduate level concepts of microeconomics without excessive wording or digressions. Therefore, it is a valuable text and "handbook" and a must for any student considering microeconomics. However, for those without a strong math background, I recommend a few basic courses in calculus and mathematical economics before reading Microeconomic Analysis.

My graduate micro text was Mas-Colell,Whinston, and Green, and I bought Varian hoping it would help fill in some of the gaps since micro wasn't my thing. But Varian didn't help me at all. It explained the very basic content, but those aren't too bad to get from MWG. As for anything not surface level, it didn't help at all. If you're looking for help with MWG, try Kreps or Sundaram.

This book is however quite advanced for students who have preliminary knowledge on Microeconomics. But it's a very useful tool for economics analysis.

The major complaint I have is not against the book itself, but the slides prepared for instructors. I used this book for the first time for last semester. My students want the lecture slides posted one day ahead of time. When I prepared for the lectures in more depth on the day of the teaching, I will usually find mistakes in the slides, then I had to correct them during the lecture. not only that, the notation in the slides is often different from the book. Then guess what? many students complained that I am unprepared in their teaching evaluation, and liked to use different notation from the book.

The second complaint is against the book itself. On dynamic games, the book gives a wrong definition of the equilibrium. Instead of showing a player's strategy as a contingent plan, it likes to call the action profiles an equilibrium. It does not kill the whole book, but it can confuse those students who do not come to lectures.