mikroeconomics

Mikroeconomics is the branch of economics that studies how individuals, households, and firms make decisions and how these decisions interact in markets for goods, services, and resources. In standard economic usage, the term microeconomics is common, and mikroeconomics may appear as an alternate spelling in some texts. The field analyzes how prices and quantities are determined in specific markets and how resources are allocated efficiently.

Key topics include consumer behavior, production theory, and the behavior of firms. Consumers choose inputs and goods to maximize utility given a budget constraint, leading to demand relationships. Firms decide on output and input use to maximize profits given costs, leading to supply decisions. Together, demand and supply determine market prices and quantities in competitive and imperfectly competitive settings.

Market structures are central to mikroeconomics. In perfect competition, many buyers and sellers lead to prices equal to marginal cost. In monopoly, monopolists influence prices through control of output. Monopolistic competition features many firms selling differentiated products, while oligopoly involves a few large firms with strategic interactions. Elasticity measures how responsive demand or supply is to price, income, or other factors, influencing pricing and welfare outcomes. Microeconomics also considers market failures, such as externalities and public goods, where private markets fall short of efficient outcomes, justifying public intervention.

Methodologically, the field uses theoretical models, optimization, and empirical tools to estimate behavior and test predictions. Microeconomics provides microfoundations for macroeconomic analysis by explaining how individual choices aggregate into broader economic phenomena.