Includes index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Rationale; Organization; Method; Reader Outcomes; Themes; Relevance and Applicability; References; Notes; Chapter 1 Production; 1.1 The Production Function; 1.2 The ""Law'' of Variable Proportions; 1.3 Substitution; 1.4 Measuring Substitution; 1.5 Specific ""Functional Forms'' for Production Functions; 1.6 Attributing Products to Inputs: Distributing Income from Production; 1.7 Efficiency and the Choice of How to Produce; 1.8 Predictions of Production Theory 1: Input Price Changes.

1.9 Predictions of Production Theory 2: Technological Changes1.10 Stocks and Flows; 1.11 The Distribution of Income; 1.12 Production Functions in Achaemenid Babylonia; References; Suggested Readings; Notes; Chapter 2 Cost and Supply; 2.1 The Cost Function; 2.2 Short Run and Long Run; 2.3 The Relationship between Cost and Production; 2.4 Producers' Objectives; 2.5 Supply Curves; 2.6 Demands for Factors of Production; 2.7 Factor Costs in General: Wages and Rents; 2.8 Allocation of Factors across Activities; 2.9 Organizing Production: The Firm; 2.10 A More General Treatment of Cost Functions.

2.11 The Economics of Mycenaean Vases, I: Supply and Cost2.12 Accounting for Apparent Cost Changes in Minoan Pottery; 2.13 Production in an Entire Economy: The Production Possibilities Frontier; References; Suggested Readings; Notes; Chapter 3 Consumption; 3.1 Rationality of the Consumer; 3.2 The Budget; 3.3 Utility and Indifference Curves; 3.4 Demand; 3.5 Demand Elasticities; 3.6 Aggregate Demand; 3.7 Evaluating Changes in Wellbeing; 3.8 Price and Consumption Indexes; 3.9 Intertemporal Choice; 3.10 Durable Goods and Discrete Choice; 3.11 Variety and Differentiated Goods.

3.12 Value of Time and Household Production3.13 Risk, Risk Aversion, and Expected Utility; 3.14 Irrational Behavior; 3.15 Fixed Prices; 3.16 Applying Demand Concepts: Relationships between Housing Consumption, Housing Prices, and Incomes in Pompeii; 3.17 The Economics of Mycenaean Vases, II: Demand; References; Suggested Readings; Notes; Chapter 4 Industry Structure and the Types of Competition; 4.1 Perfect Competition; 4.2 Competitive Equilibrium; 4.3 Monopoly; 4.4 Oligopoly; 4.5 Monopolistic Competition; 4.6 Contestable Markets; 4.7 Buyer's Power: Monopsony.

4.8 The Economics of Mycenaean Vases, III: Industry Structure4.9 Ancient Monopoly and Oligopoly: Religion and Foreign Trade; References; Suggested Readings; Notes; Chapter 5 General Equilibrium; 5.1 General Equilibrium as a Fact and as a Model; 5.1.1 The facts; 5.1.2 The models; 5.1.3 The questions; 5.2 The Walrasian Model; 5.3 Exchange; 5.4 The Two-Sector Model; 5.4.1 The basics with the Lerner-Pearce diagram; 5.4.2 Growth in factor supplies; 5.4.3 Technical change; 5.5 Existence and Uniqueness of Equilibrium; 5.6 Computable General Equilibrium Models; References; Suggested Readings; Notes.

Economic Theory and the Ancient Mediterranean presents a comprehensive introduction to the application of contemporary economic theory to the ancient societies of the Mediterranean Sea from the period of 5000 BCE to 400 CE. Offers an accessible presentation of modern economic theory and its relationships to ancient societiesPresents innovative expositions and applications of economic theory to issues in antiquity not often found in the literatureFeatures insightful discussions of the relevance of contemporary economic models to various situations in antiq... .