This is the first volume in a new, definitive, six-volume edition of the works of Joseph Stiglitz, one of today's most distinguished and controversial economists. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for his work on asymmetric information and is widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the field of modern information economics and more generally for his contributions to microeconomics. Volume I includes a number of classic papers which helped to form the foundations for the field of the economics of information. Stiglitz reflects on his work and the field more generally throughout the volume by including substantial original introductions to the Selected Works, the volume as a whole, and each part within the volume. The volume includes a number of foundational papers, specifically looking at market equilibrium with adverse selection, moral hazard, and screening. This volume sets out the basic concepts underlying the economics of information, while volume II goes a step further by applying and extending these concepts in a number of different settings in labor, capital, and product markets.