Description
PEARSON Economics For Business by John Sloman
Good economic decision making is fundamental to the success of business Economic decisions lie at the heart of business. Economics is all about the choices between alternatives and how to weigh up their costs and benefits. Studying this book will help you understand such choices and how to make them successfully when you take up a job or perhaps run your own business. Businesses need to make choices of what and how much to produce, what techniques to use, who to employ, what investment to make, where to locate, what markets to develop and how best to compete with rivals. Economics helps them make the right decisions. But making the right decisions depends on the economic environment in which businesses operate. For example, government policy affects business: whether through taxation, subsidies, training and education, regulation or trade policies. The economic environment is also affected by trade relations and the actions of international bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Issues such as Brexit, trade deals and migration crucially affect businesses. The book shows you how. You will be studying all these issues and more in this book. It will give you the skills to advise businesses and other organisations on how best to achieve their objectives. The advice of economists is crucial to good decision making. But to give good advice requires understanding issues and assessing evidence. Studying economics helps to give you this understanding and makes you a better problem solver. PART A BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS 1 The business environment and business economics 2 Economics and the world of business 3 Business organisations PART B BUSINESS AND MARKETS 4 The working of competitive markets 5 Business in a market environment 6 Demand and the consumer 7 Behavioural economics of the consumer 8 Firms and the consumer PART D BACKGROUND TO SUPPLY 10 Revenue and profit PART E SUPPLY: SHORT-RUN DECISION MAKING BY FIRMS 11 Profit maximisation under perfect competition and monopoly 12 Profit maximisation under imperfect competition 13 Alternative theories of the firm PART F SUPPLY: ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES 14 An introduction to business strategy 15 Growth strategy 16 The small-firm sector 17 Pricing strategy PART G THE FIRM IN THE FACTOR MARKET 18 Labour markets, wages and industrial relations 19 Investment and the employment of capital PART H THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS 20 Reasons for government intervention in the market 21 Government and the firm 22 Government and the market PART I BUSINESS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 23 Globalisation and multinational business 24 International trade 25 Trading blocs PART J THE MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 26 The macroeconomic environment of business 27 The balance of payments and exchange rates 28 The financial system, money and interest rates 29 Business activity, unemployment and inflation PART K MACROECONOMIC POLICY 30 Demand-side policy 31 Supply-side policy 32 International economic policy