Meaning & use
microeconomics
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The study of how individual people, households and companies make choices and how prices form in particular markets.
Grammar: Takes a singular verb: microeconomics is a required course.
Patterns
- microeconomics of something
Microeconomics explains why a bakery changes its prices.
She took a microeconomics class in her first year.
The microeconomics of housing involves renters and landlords.
Common combinations
- study microeconomics
- Students who study microeconomics learn about supply and demand.
- microeconomics course
- The microeconomics course meets on Mondays.
- principles of microeconomics
- He wrote a textbook on the principles of microeconomics.
- microeconomics and macroeconomics
- Microeconomics and macroeconomics approach the same economy at different scales.
- microeconomics theory
- Microeconomics theory predicts how consumers react to price rises.
Synonyms and how they differ
- price theory
- Price theory is an older label for the core of microeconomics, focusing on how prices are set.
- consumer theory
- Consumer theory covers only one part of microeconomics, how buyers decide.
- managerial economics
- Managerial economics applies microeconomic ideas to business decisions.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: microeconomics or macroeconomics?
microeconomics vs macroeconomics
Macroeconomics looks at the whole economy, such as inflation and national output, whereas microeconomics looks at individual decisions.
Practice
Which topic belongs to microeconomics?
Choose one answer.
Household choices are microeconomic; unemployment, inflation and national output are macroeconomic topics.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “microeconomics”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.