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clear logical patient style which takes

the student seriously

Assuming little prior knowledge of the subject, Mathematics for Economics and Business promotes self-study
encouraging students to read and understand topics that can, at first, seem daunting.
This text is suitable for undergraduate economics, business and accountancy students taking introductory
level maths courses.

KEY FEATURES:
Includes numerous applications and practice problems which help
students appreciate maths as a tool used to analyse real economic
and business problems.
Solutions to all problems are included in the book.
Topics are divided into one or two-hour sessions which allow students
to work at a realistic pace.
Techniques needed to understand more advanced mathematics are
carefully developed.
Offers an excellent introduction to Excel and Maple.

MATHEMATICS FOR

This market leading text is highly regarded by lecturers and students alike and has been praised for its informal,
friendly style which helps students to understand and even enjoy their studies of mathematics.

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

John Spencer, formerly of Queens

University Belfast

fifth
edition

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

fifth edition

MATHEMATICS
FOR

ECONOMICS
AND BUSINESS

Brand new companion website containing additional material for both

students and lecturers.

Ian Jacques was formerly a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematical and
Information Sciences at Coventry University, and has considerable experience
of teaching mathematical methods to students studying economics, business
and accountancy.

An imprint of

Additional student support at

www.pearsoned.co.uk/jacques

www.pearson-books.com

JACQUES

New appendices on Implicit Differentiation and Hessian matrices for

more advanced courses.

IAN JACQUES

Additional student support at

www.pearsoned.co.uk/jacques

MFE_A01.qxd 16/12/2005 10:53 Page i

MATHEMATICS
FOR

ECONOMICS
AND BUSINESS

Visit the Mathematics for Economics and Business, fifth edition,

Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/jacques to find
valuable student learning material including:

Multiple choice questions to test your understanding

MFE_A01.qxd 16/12/2005 10:53 Page ii

We work with leading authors to develop the

strongest educational materials in mathematics
and business, bringing cutting-edge thinking
and best learning practice to a global market.
Under a range of well-known imprints, including
Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high quality
print and electronic publications which help
readers to understand and apply their content,
whether studying or at work.
To find out more about the complete range of our
publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk

MFE_A01.qxd 16/12/2005 10:53 Page iii

fifth edition

MATHEMATICS
FOR

ECONOMICS
AND BUSINESS
IAN JACQUES

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Pearson Education Limited

Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
England
and Associated Companies throughout the world
Visit us on the World Wide Web at:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published 1991
Second edition 1994
Third edition 1999
Fourth edition 2003
Fifth edition published 2006
Addison-Wesley Publishers Ltd, 1991, 1994
Pearson Education Limited 1999, 2003, 2006
The right of Ian Jacques to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of
the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued
by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
ISBN-10 0-273-70195-9
ISBN-13 978-0-273-70195-8
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
10
10

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06

Typeset in 10/12.5pt Minion Reg by 35

Printed and bound by Mateu-Cromo Artes Graficas, Spain
The publisher's policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.

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To my mother, and in memory of my father

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Supporting resources
Visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/jacques to find valuable online resources
Companion Website for students

Multiple choice questions to test your understanding
For instructors

Complete, downloadable Instructors Manual containing teaching hints
plus over a hundred additional problems with solutions and marking
schemes

Downloadable PowerPoint slides of figures from the book
Also: The Companion Website provides the following features:

Search tool to help locate specific items of content

E-mail results and profile tools to send results of quizzes to instructors

Online help and support to assist with website usage and troubleshooting
For more information please contact your local Pearson Education sales
representative or visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/jacques

MFE_A01.qxd 16/12/2005 10:53 Page vii

Contents

Preface

ix

Introduction: Getting Started

Notes for students: how to use this book

Getting started with Excel
Getting started with Maple

1
3
9

Linear Equations

13

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6

15
35
47
66
87
96

Graphs of linear equations

Algebraic solution of simultaneous linear equations
Supply and demand analysis
Algebra
Transposition of formulae
National income determination

Non-linear Equations

113

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

115
129
141
162

Quadratic functions
Revenue, cost and profit
Indices and logarithms
The exponential and natural logarithm functions

Mathematics of Finance

175

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

177
194
209
220

Percentages
Compound interest
Geometric series
Investment appraisal

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viii

Contents

Differentiation

237

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8

239
251
261
275
284
298
320
331

The derivative of a function

Rules of differentiation
Marginal functions
Further rules of differentiation
Elasticity
Optimization of economic functions
Further optimization of economic functions
The derivative of the exponential and natural logarithm functions

Partial Differentiation

341

5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6

343
356
374
386
400
411

Functions of several variables

Partial elasticity and marginal functions
Comparative statics
Unconstrained optimization
Constrained optimization
Lagrange multipliers

Integration

421

6.1 Indefinite integration

6.2 Definite integration

423
437

Matrices

451

7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4

453
472
492
502

Basic matrix operations

Matrix inversion
Cramers rule
Inputoutput analysis

Linear Programming

515

8.1 Graphical solution of linear programming problems

8.2 Applications of linear programming

517
535

Dynamics

551

9.1 Difference equations

9.2 Differential equations

553
569

Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Solutions to
Glossary
Index

587
591
594
598
663
673

Differentiation from First Principles

Implicit Differentiation
Hessians
Problems

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Preface
This book is intended primarily for students on economics, business studies and management
courses. It assumes very little prerequisite knowledge, so it can be read by students who have
not undertaken a mathematics course for some time. The style is informal and the book contains a large number of worked examples. Students are encouraged to tackle problems for
themselves as they read through each section. Detailed solutions are provided so that all
answers can be checked. Consequently, it should be possible to work through this book on
a self-study basis. The material is wide ranging, and varies from elementary topics such as
percentages and linear equations, to more sophisticated topics such as constrained optimization of multivariate functions. The book should therefore be suitable for use on both low- and
high-level quantitative methods courses. Examples and exercises are included which make use
of the computer software packages Excel and Maple.
This book was first published in 1991. The prime motivation for writing it then was to try
and produce a textbook that students could actually read and understand for themselves. This
remains the guiding principle and the most significant change for this, the fifth edition, is
in the design, rather than content. I was brought up with the fixed idea that mathematics
textbooks were written in a small font with many equations crammed on to a page. However,
I fully accept that these days books need to look attractive and be easy to negotiate. I hope that
the new style will encourage more students to read it and will reduce the fear factor of mathematics. In response to anonymous reviewers comments, I have included additional problems
for several exercises together with two new appendices on implicit differentiation and Hessian
matrices. Finally, I have also included the highlighted key terms at the end of each section and
in a glossary at the end of the book.
The book now has an accompanying website that is intended to be rather more than just a
gimmick. I hope that the commentary in the Instructors Manual will help tutors using the book
for the first time. It also contains about a hundred new questions. Although a few of these problems
are similar to those in the main book, the majority of questions are genuinely different. There
are roughly two test exercises per chapter, which are graded to accommodate different levels of
student abilities. These are provided on the website so that they can easily be cut, pasted and
edited to suit. Fully worked solutions and marking schemes are included. Tutors can also
control access. The website has a a section containing multiple-choice tests. These can be given
to students for further practice or used for assessment. The multiple choice questions can be
marked online with the results automatically transferred to the tutors markbook if desired.

Ian Jacques