An argument for the use of the square-root functional form in teaching undergraduate microeconomics

The present paper has two objectives, both of which are purely pedagogical in nature. The first is to propose a competitor to the conceptual “workhorse” of economics, the Cobb–Douglas functional form. Our competitor is a special case of the square-root functional form. The second objective is to employ our special case as the foundation for a much-needed overview or roadmap to a large expanse of producer and consumer theory.