ABSTRACT
Most land-use planners work within a mixed economy, consisting of publicly and privately owned firms and commercial and non-commercial organisations. This chapter focuses on the individual consumer and considers initially how his wants may be satisfied by private firms. It expresses that the interests of the consumer are confined only to goods and services which have a price and which, therefore, private markets will supply. The ability of the individual consumer to satisfy his desires for those goods and services which are priced are limited by his income. The chapter explores a simple theory of producer behaviour, which in most ways closely parallels the theory of consumer behaviour. It describes the workings of a series of related markets for priced goods and factors of production. A market can be defined as an institution which arranges for the production and exchange of commodities and services, including both final and intermediate goods.
