The application of economics principles to the analysis of behavior has yielded novel insights on value and choice across contexts ranging from laboratory animal research to clinical populations to national trends of global impact. Recent innovations in demand curve methods provide a credible means of quantitatively comparing qualitatively…

A classic article by Gary Becker (1965) showed that when it takes time to consume, the first order conditions for optimal consumption require the marginal rate of substitution between any two goods to equal their relative full costs. These include the direct money price and the money value of the time needed to consume each good. This important…

In recent years, the price of college textbooks has become a growing concern for students and others who care about keeping college costs affordable. As policymakers and higher education systems explore the issue further, there are actions that can be taken immediately on college campuses to reduce the cost of textbooks. This brief presents…

Using store-level and aggregated Consumer Price Index data, we show that restaurant prices rise in response to minimum wage increases under several sources of identifying variation. We introduce a general model of employment determination that implies minimum wage hikes cause prices to rise in competitive labor markets but potentially fall in…

The author establishes a property of supply for a competitive firm: Assuming differentiability of the production frontier, linearly independent price vectors have disjoint image sets under the supply mapping. This property supports the main results. First, the author drew a simple proof of McFadden's proposition that differentiability of the…

Discusses the components of marketing (i.e., consumer markets, product development, sales, advertising and promotion, packaging, distribution, pricing, and market research), how information products and services relate to those components, and the pricing of products from a bibliographic database. Two figures and a 17-item reference list are…

Discussion of online consumer behavior focuses on the development of a conceptual model and a set of propositions to explain the main factors influencing online price search. Integrates the psychological search literature into the context of online searching by incorporating ability and cost to search for information into perceived search…

At Oregon State University, an investigation into physical plant administration in response to complaints found significant problems with customer service. Adopting an approach called Total Quality Management, the staff identified and resolved problems, improved quality, and reduced cost. Administrators feel the principles could be applied in all…

Summarizes the results of a study of 40 high school students with grade point averages of 2.5 or greater who had never received formal training in economics. The students worked on problems involving basic economic concepts including productivity, profits, opportunity costs, and supply and demand. Discusses their misconceptions. (MJP)

Presents a lesson plan that utilizes a document presented by students to the President of the University of Alberta in 1930. The document lists the prices (with increases) for food and other commodities and concludes with a succinct analysis of why students are moving off campus. (MJP)

The theory and procedures for measuring geographical differentials in cost of living, amenities, wages, and cost of government services are presented. These differences are important to individuals seeking optimal locations, and within groups seeking equitable treatment in locational assignments. Indexes for these factors are reported for 579…

Provides a classroom exercise using the restrictive tariffs on sugar to examine issues of protectionism and international trade. Discusses related issues such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the formation of large regional trading blocks. Includes a hands-on calculation of the economic impact of the quota on consumers. (MJP)