ABSTRACT
Problems such as maximization of a function f or finding the root of an equation f (x) = 0 arise frequently in economics. However, often the function may be difficult to work with, motivating the use of approximations to the function f that are easier to study and provide insight regarding f. One relatively simple class of approximating functions are the polynomials. A function h is a polynomial in x if it has the form: https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> h ( x ) = a 0 + a 1 x + a 2 x 2 + … + a n x n , https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315819532/cbabfc5c-e202-434b-9258-9ffaa4495923/content/math_888_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
