The Foundations Of Computable General Equilibrium Theory

The book provides a hands-on introduction to computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, written at an accessible, undergraduate level.

This book adopts a typical textbook approach and format for CGE beginners to learn and master the subject. It explains the economics theory behind the CGE models. The learning proceeds step by step from basic economic theories to advanced topics, from simple to more comprehensive CGE structures along with the corresponding computer programs. Each chapter reviews relevant economic theories; illustrates new material with examples, diagrams and exercises; and provides the mathematical models along with the GAMS computer programing codes. At the end of a chapter, exercises are assigned for practice and enhancing understanding.

Many books have been written on computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling. However, there are certain important areas for economic policy that have been largely overlooked. This intermediate/advanced text presents the topic as a methodology for the analysis of macro and fiscal policies in modern economies while introducing levels of disaggregation that are beyond the scope of standard macro models. The book begins by presenting the historical and intuitive background of general equilibrium analysis. Moving on, computer software is introduced to derive numerical solutions for economic models. The authors provide examples of code, bringing in data sources that have become the foundations of CGE applications. The methodology presented here, which differs from other CGE books, includes financial assets, government budget deficits, and debt financing of private investment. These topics are analyzed in the context of dynamic optimization, generating endogenous variables such as inflation, interest, and growth rates. The book also devotes significant attention to the applications of CGE models to developing economies. This textbook comes with a range of downloadable supplements and will be a valuable resource for students taking a CGE course as part of a program in advanced microeconomics, macroeconomics, development economics, or international trade economics.

The purpose of this manual is to contribute to and facilitate the use of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models in the analysis of issues related to food policy in developing countries. The volume includes a detailed presentation of a static “standard” CGE model and its required database and incorporates features of particular importance in developing countries. The manual discusses the implementation of the model in GAMS and is accompanied by a CD-ROM that includes the GAMS software (free demo system), the GAMS input files for the model, sample databases, simulations, solution reports, and a social accounting matrix (SAM) aggregation program. Although the volume provides a standardized framework for analysis, the analyst is not forced to make “one-size-fits-all” assumptions. The GAMS code is written to give the analyst considerable flexibility in model specification.

General Equilibrium Theory studies the properties and operation of free market economies. The field is a response to a series of questions originally outlined by Leon Walras about the operation of markets and posed by Frank Hahn in the following way: OCyDoes the pursuit of private interest, through a system of interconnected deregulated markets, lead not to chaos but to coherence OCo and if so, how is that achieved?OCO This is always an apt question, but particularly so given the OCyGlobal Financial CrisisOCO that emerged from the operation of market economies in the Americas and Europe in mid to late 2008. The answer that General Equilibrium Theory provides to the Walras-Hahn question is that, under certain conditions coherence is possible, while under certain other conditions chaos, in various forms, is likely to prevail. The conditionality of either outcome is not always well understood OCo neither by proponents of, or antagonists to, the OCyfree market positionOCO. Consequently, this book attempts to show something of what General Equilibrium Theory has to say about the wisdom or otherwise of always relying on OCymarket forcesOCO to manage complex socio-economic systems. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: General Equilibrium Theory: An Overview (138 KB). Contents: General Equilibrium Theory: An Overview; Existence of Equilibrium: Sufficient Conditions; Existence of Equilibrium: Necessary Conditions; Equilibrium and Irreducibility: Some Empirical Evidence; Existence of Equilibrium Under Alternative Income Conditions; Existence of Walrasian Equilibrium in Some NonOCoArrow-Debreu Environments; Uniqueness of Equilibrium; Stability of Equilibrium; Optimality of Equilibrium; Comparative Statics of Equilibrium States; Empirical Evidence on General Equilibrium; General Equilibrium Theory in Retrospect. Readership: Advanced undergraduates and graduate students in economics; economists interested in economic theory."

In a wide number of economic problems the equilibrium values of the variables can be regarded as solutions of a parametrized constrained maximization problem. This occurs in static as well as dynamic models; in the latter case the choice variables are often paths in certain function spaces and thus can be regarded as points in infinite dimensional spaces. It is sometimes possible to determine qualitative properties of the solutions with respect to changes in the parameters of the model. The study of such properties is often called comparative statics; [15], [2], and [10]. Certain comparative static properties of the maxima have proven to be of particular importance for economic theory, since the works of Slutsky, Hicks, and Samuelson [15]: they have been for- lated in terms of synunetry and negative semidefiniteness of a matrix, called the Slutsky-Hicks-Samuelson matrix. A discussion of this matrix and its applications is given in Section 1. The study of these properties in economic theory, however, has so far been restricted to static models where the choice variable and the parameters are elements in Euclidean spaces, and where there is only one constraint.