Essays In Economic Theory

Essays in Economic Theory, first published in 1983, combines two essays on game theory and its applications in economics. The first, "Learning Behavior and the Noncooperative Equilibrium", considers whether an adaptive justification, like those commonly available for the optimization models frequently employed elsewhere in economics, can be found for the Nash noncooperative equilibrium. The second essay, "A Game of Fair Division", was motivated by the desire to find attractive methods for solving allocation problems and bargaining disputes that are simple enough to provide useful alternatives to existing methods. It studies in detail one such simple method: the classical "divide-and-choose" procedure. This book will be of interest to students of economics.

This paper is concerned primarily with certain methodological problems that arise in constructing the "distinct positive science" that John Neville Keynes called for, in particular, the problem how to decide whether a suggested hypothesis or theory should be tentatively accepted as part of the "body of systematized knowledge concerning what is."

Consists of original and rev. versions of papers presented at a conference at Airlie House in Virginia, Mar. 1983. Includes bibliographies and index.

First Published in 2015. This is volume 2 of a selection of essays on economics looking at the theories, facts and policies and including topics of U.S. national accounts, alternatives to Input-Output analysis and environmental repercussions and the economic structure as well as the balance of the economy in the USSR.

How do economists tackle the problems of the economic system and give advice on public policy? Nobel laureate R.H. Coase reflects on some of the most fundamental concerns of economists over the past two centuries. In 15 essays, Coase explore the history and philosophy of economics and evaluates the contributions of a number of outstanding figures.