How to write cases in LaTeX?

Question

I want to write following system of equation in my paper, but I don't know how:

Here is a code that I've tried, but it does not work:

R\geqslant R_t \equiv \begin{cases} \frac{r_{t+1} (1-W(k_t)}{f'(k{t+1}    
\lambda} &\mbox{if } k_t < K(\lambda) \\ 
\frac{r_{t+1}}{f'(k_{t+1})} & \mbox{if } k_t\geqslant K(\lambda) 
\end{cases} 

Any suggestions will be very helpful. Thanks

Answer 1

I would load the mathtools package, which is a superset of the amsmath package, and employ that package's dcases* environment.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{mathtools} % for 'dcases*' env.
\begin{document}
\[
R\ge R_t \equiv
\begin{dcases*}
\frac{r_{t+1}}{f'(k_{t+1})}\frac{1-W(k_t)}{\lambda} 
   & if  $k_t < K(\lambda)$\,, \\[1ex]
\frac{r_{t+1}}{f'(k_{t+1})} 
   & if $k_t\ge K(\lambda)$\,.
\end{dcases*}
\]
\end{document}

Answer 2

Welcome to TeX.SE. Here my (fast) proposal from your original code:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}

\begin{document}
\[R\geqslant R_t \equiv \begin{cases} \dfrac{r_{t+1} (1-W(k_t))}{f'(k{t+1}    
\lambda)} &\mbox{if } k_t < K(\lambda) \\
&\\
\dfrac{r_{t+1}}{f'(k_{t+1})} & \mbox{if } k_t\geqslant K(\lambda) 
\end{cases}\] 
\end{document}

EDIT: By correct comment of @Yorgos:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\begin{document}
\[
R\geqslant R_t \equiv 
\begin{cases} 
\dfrac{r_{t+1} (1-W(k_t))}{f'(k{t+1} \lambda)} 
    & \text{if } k_t < K(\lambda) \\
&\\  % blank row
\dfrac{r_{t+1}}{f'(k_{t+1})} 
    & \text{if } k_t\geqslant K(\lambda) 
\end{cases}
\] 
\end{document}