The modelling of the consumer purchasing goods so as best to satisfy their preferences within a limited budget is at the core of applied microeconomics. Consumer theory provides the basic modelling tools from which are developed tools used throughout the economic modeling of household behaviour. It also underpins applied welfare analysis and therefore the economic approach to many questions of public policy. This course will cover the theory essential to modelling of demand responses to price, income and demographic change. Practical applications can use a variety of types of data and the course will cover appropriate modelling choices in terms of model specification and econometric techniques, using actual data.
Theory of consumer demand
Modelling preferences; Choice and revealed preference; Duality in demand theory, compensated and uncompensated demands; Integrability and acceptability of demand specifications; Market demand, aggregation and separability; Demographic effects.
Applied consumer demand analysis
Estimation of demand equations for individual goods and of demand systems; Aggregate and individual level data; Engel curves and income responses; Estimation of price responses using price variation over time and over space The course will involve lectures and applied sessions. Course participants will apply the various techniques using real data on their computers, mainly using Stata. It is assumed that participants have at least a basic knowledge of econometrics.