CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS

There are certain chief characteristics of managerial economics, which can help to understand the nature of the subject matter and help in a clear understanding of the following terms:

• Managerial economics is micro-economic in character. This is because the unit of study is a firm and its problems. Managerial economics does not deal with the entire economy as a unit of study.
• Managerial economics largely uses that body of economic concepts and principles, which is known as Theory of the Firm or Economics of the Firm. In addition, it also seeks to apply profit theory, which forms part of distribution theories in economics.
• Managerial economics is concrete and realistic. I avoids difficult abstract issues of economic theory. But it also involves complications ignored in economic theory in order to face the overall situation in which decisions are made. Economic theory ignores the variety of backgrounds and training found in individual firms. Conversely, managerial economics is concerned more with the particular environment that influences decision-making.
• Managerial economics belongs to normative economics rather than positive economics. Normative economy is the branch of economics in which judgments about the desirability of various policies are made. Positive economics describes how the economy behaves and predicts how it might change. In other words, managerial economics is prescriptive rather than descriptive. It remains confined to descriptive hypothesis.
• Managerial economics also simplifies the relations among different variables without judging what is desirable or undesirable. For instance, the law of demand states that as price increases, demand goes down or vice-versa but this statement does not imply if the result is desirable or not. Managerial economics, however, is concerned with what decisions ought to be made and hence involves value judgments. This further has two aspects: first, it tells what aims and objectives a firm should pursue; and secondly, how best to achieve these aims in particular situations. Managerial economics, therefore, has been described as normative microeconomics of the firm.
• Macroeconomics is also useful to managerial economics since it provides an intelligent understanding of the business environment. This understanding enables a business executive to adjust with the external forces that are beyond the management’s control but which play a crucial role in the well being of the firm. The important forces are: business cycles, national income accounting, and economic policies of the government like those relating to taxation foreign trade, anti-monopoly measures and labour relations.