Managerial economics: foundations of business analysis and strategy, 12th. ed.

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, the growing influence of microeconomics and industrial organization economics in every field of business analysis has transformed the role of managerial economics in business school curricula. Economists have understood for some time that every modern course in business strategy and organizational architecture must draw from key areas of advancement in microeconomics and industrial organization. While many business schools have been quick to adopt “strategy” as a fundamental theme in their curricula, this new emphasis on strategy too often falls on the shoulders of a single, one-semester course in business strategy. In a single course, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to teach business students managerial economics and cover all of the valuable topics in business strategy and organization. In any case, a thorough foundation in managerial economics is required in order to understand how to use the many new and important developments in microeconomics and industrial organization. The objective of Managerial Economics, then, is to teach and apply the foundation topics in microeconomics and industrial organization essential for making both the day-to-day business decisions that maximize profit as well as the strategic decisions designed to create and protect profit in the long run. In so doing, we believe Managerial Economics helps business students become architects of business tactics and strategy instead of middle managers who plod along the beaten path of others.