This book draws together the key contributions to the major areas of microeconomic theory from the last few decades. It is intended to provide both undergraduate and graduate students with an essential guide to the current state of the discipline. The articles have been carefully selected not only for the role they have played in the progress of microeconomics, but also for their usefulness and potential to inspire future research.

The main themes covered include consumer theory, the theory of the firm, the theory of markets, pricing theory, and labor compensation theory, with the common threads of transaction costs, strategic decisions, and information imperfections. Unlike similar anthologies, this Reader also draws attention to methodological issues and heterodox approaches to microeconomics. Amongst those whose works appear here are Gary Becker, George Stigler, Harvey Leibenstein, Ronald Coase, Oliver Williamson, George Akerlof, Joseph Stiglitz, Avinash Dixit and Paul Klemperer.

This Reader will be an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in economics, as well as casual readers interested in an "insider’s view" of the discipline. It serves not only to collect in a single place the most significant papers in economics that have been published in recent decades but also, with several introduction chapters, to give the literature a coherent structure.