{"title":"Using Python and Google Colab to teach undergraduate microeconomic theory","authors":"Masanori Kuroki","doi":"10.1016/j.iree.2021.100225","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The author describes how to use the Python programming language to teach topics in a microeconomic theory course at the undergraduate level. Specifically, the author describes how to use Python to solve optimization problems, such as utility maximization and profit maximization. Python is free and open-source and becoming increasingly popular both in economics and in business. To focus on solving optimization problems and to avoid installation issues, the author utilizes Google Colab, which allows users to type Python code on a web browser. Program code is provided for every example to encourage replication and experimentation. The author aims to (1) provide an option to instructors who are interested in supplementing the traditional pencil-and-paper approach with technology at no cost, and (2) help students become comfortable with a programming language that is widely used in tech companies and data analysis.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":1,"journal":{"name":"Accounts of Chemical Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":16.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1016/j.iree.2021.100225","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Accounts of Chemical Research","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477388021000177","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
The author describes how to use the Python programming language to teach topics in a microeconomic theory course at the undergraduate level. Specifically, the author describes how to use Python to solve optimization problems, such as utility maximization and profit maximization. Python is free and open-source and becoming increasingly popular both in economics and in business. To focus on solving optimization problems and to avoid installation issues, the author utilizes Google Colab, which allows users to type Python code on a web browser. Program code is provided for every example to encourage replication and experimentation. The author aims to (1) provide an option to instructors who are interested in supplementing the traditional pencil-and-paper approach with technology at no cost, and (2) help students become comfortable with a programming language that is widely used in tech companies and data analysis.
期刊介绍:
Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance.
Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.