ec400 problem sets
DESCRIPTION
Problem set use by the London School of economics during the September preparation. For those who want to do some extra studying. Good Luck.TRANSCRIPT
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 1
1. Show that the general quadratic form of
a11x21 + a12x1x2 + a22x
22
can be written as ( x1 x2 )
(a11 a12
0 a22
)(x1
x2
).
2. List all the principal minors of a general (3 × 3) matrix and denote which are the
three leading principal submatrices.
3. Let C =
(0 0
0 c
), and determine the definiteness of C.
4. Determine the definiteness of the following symmetric matrices:
a)
(2 −1
−1 1
)b)
(−3 4
4 −6
)c)
1 2 0
2 4 5
0 5 6
5. Approximate ex at x = 0 with a Taylor polynomial of order three and four. Then
compute the values of these approximation at h = .2 and at h = 1 and compare with
the actual values.
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 2
1. For each of the following functions, find the critical points and classify these as local
max, local min, or ‘can’t tell’:
a) x4 + x2 − 6xy + 3y2,
b) x2 − 6xy + 2y2 + 10x + 2y − 5
c) xy2 + x3y − xy
2. Let S ⊂ Rn be an open set and f : S → R be a twice differentiable function.
Suppose that Df(x∗) = 0. State the weakest sufficient conditions the relevant points,
corresponding to the Hessian of f must, satisfy for:
(i) x∗ to be a local max.
(ii) x∗ to be a strict local min.
3. Which of the critical points found in Problem 1 are also global maxima or global
minima?
4. Check whether f(x, y) = x4 + x2y2 + y4 − 3x − 8y is concave or convex using its
Hessian.
2
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 3
1. A commonly used production or utility function is f(x, y) = xy. Check whether it
is concave or convex using its Hessian.
2. Prove that the sum of two concave functions is a concave function as well.
3. Let f be a function defined on a convex set U in Rn. Prove that the following
statements are equivalent:
(i) f is a quasiconcave function on U
(ii) For all x,y ∈ U and t ∈ [0, 1],
f(x) ≥ f(y)⇒ f(tx + (1− t)y) ≥ f(y)
(iii) For all x,y ∈ U and t ∈ [0, 1],
f(tx + (1− t)y) ≥ min{f(x), f(y)}
4. State the corresponding theorem for quasiconvex functions.
5. For each of the following functions on R1, determine whether they are quasiconcave,
quasiconvex, both, or neither:
a) ex; b) ln x; c) x3 − x.
3
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 4
1. For the following program
minx
f(x) = x
subject to
−(x2) ≥ 0,
find the optimal solution.
2. Solve the following problem:
maxx1,x2
f(x1, x2) = x21x2
subject to
2x21 + x2
2 = 3.
3. Solve the following problem:
maxx,y
x2 + y2
subject to
ax + y = 1
when a ∈ [12, 32].
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4. Consider the following problem:
maxx
f(x)
subject to
g(x) ≤ a
x ∈ X
Let X be a convex subset of Rn, f : X → R a concave function, g : X → Rm a convex
function, a is a vector in Rm. What is the Largrangian for this problem? prove it is
a concave function of the choice variable x on X.
5
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 5
1. Assume that the utility function of the consumer is
u(x, y) = x +√y
The consumer has a positive income I > 0 and faces positive prices px > 0, py > 0.
The consumer cannot buy negative amounts of any of the goods.
a) Use Kuhn-Tucker to solve the consumer’s problem.
b) Show how the optimal value of u∗,depends on I.
2. Solve the following problem:
max(min{x, y} − x2 − y2)
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LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS Professor Leonardo Felli
Department of Economics S.478; x7525
EC400 2010/11
Math for Microeconomics
September Course, Part II
Problem Set 6
1. Consider the problem of maximizing xyz subject to x + y + z ≤ 1, x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0
and z ≥ 0. Obviously, the three latter constraints do not bind, and we can then
concentrate only on the first constraint (x + y + z ≤ 1). Find the solution and the
Lagrange multiplier, and show how the optimal value would change if instead the
constraint is x + y + z ≤ .9.
2. Consider the problem of maximizing xy subject to x2 + ay2 ≤ 1. What happens to
the optimal value when we change a = 1 to a = 1.1?
3. Consider Problem 1 in Problem set 5. Set the first order conditions, and for the
case of an interior solution use comparative statics to find changes in the endogenous
variables when I and px change (one at a time), i.e., find
(i)∂x
∂I,
∂y
∂I,
∂q0∂I
;
(ii)∂x
∂px,
∂y
∂px,
∂q0∂px
.
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