Introduction To General Equilibrium Theory And Welfare Economics

The setting: individual economic agents; The setting: supply and demand, competitive equilibrium; Existence and uniqueness; Welare economics.

This book offers the basic grasp of general equilibrium theory that is a fundamental background for advanced work in virtually any sub-field of economics, and the thorough understanding of the methods of welfare economics, particularly in a general equilibrium context, that is indispensable for undertaking applied policy analysis. The book uses extensive examples, both simple ones intended to bolster basic concepts, and those illustrating application of the material to economics in practice.

General Equilibrium Theory: An Introduction presents the mathematical economic theory of price determination and resource allocation from elementary to advanced levels, suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of economics. This Arrow–Debreu model (known for two of its most prominent founders, both Nobel Laureates) is the basis of modern price theory and of a wide range of applications. The new edition updates discussion throughout and expands the number and variety of exercises. It offers a revised and extended treatment of core convergence, including the case of non-convex preferences, and introduces the investigation of approximate equilibrium with U-shaped curves and non-convex preferences.

In this book the reader is provided with an overview of the most interesting ideas in Competitive General Equilibrium Theory as well as Welfare Economy. In doing so, the author adopts a methodological approach of a closed and inter-related system where all variables are simultaneously determined. By using theorems of fixed point, revealed preference and local and global stability, the author proves the existence of unicity and stability. Furthermore, he analyses those situations where the competitive system does not allocate resources efficiently. In this sense, he examines allocation problems in regard to property rights, information problems and choice and negotiation problems. Finally, the text includes a chapter that presents a topical guide of questions related to Social Choice.

This advanced textbook aims at providing a simple but fully operational introduction to applied general equilibrium. General equilibrium is the backbone of modern economic analysis and as such generation after generation of economics students are introduced to it. As an analytical tool in economics, general equilibrium provides one of the most complete views of an economy since it incorporates all economic agents (households, firms, government, foreign sector) in an integrated way that is compatible with microtheory and microdata. The integration of theory and data handling is required for successful modeling but it requires a double ability that is not found in standard books. With this book we aim at filling the gap and provide advanced students with the required tools, from the building of consistent and applicable general equilibrium models to the interpretation of the results that ensue from the adoption of policies. The topics include: model design, model development, computer code examples, calibration and data adjustments, practical policy examples.

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."

Creedy (economics, U. of Melbourne) provides an accessible introduction to general equilibrium analysis and associated welfare economics using a simple two-sector model and only diagrams and simple mathematics. He describes the utility, non- utility, and welfare analysis of exchange with price-taking; trading at disequilibrium prices, the role of the number of traders, and bargaining solutions of exchange without price- taking; and the construction and solution of the two-sector model. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

General Equilibrium Theory: An Introduction treats the classic Arrow-Debreu general equilibrium model in a form accessible to graduate students and advanced undergraduates in economics and mathematics. Topics covered include mathematical preliminaries, households and firms, existence of general equilibrium, Pareto efficiency of general equilibrium, the First and Second Fundamental Theorems of Welfare Economics, the core and core convergences, future markets over time and contingent commodity markets under uncertainty. Demand, supply, and excess demand appear first as (point-valued) functions, then optionally as (set-valued) correspondences. The mathematics presented (with elementary proofs of the theorems) includes a real analysis, the Brouwer fixed point theorem, and separating and supporting hyperplane theorems. Optional chapters introduce the existence of equilibrium with set-valued supply and demand, the mathematics of upper and lower hemicontinuous correspondences, and the Kakutani fixed point theorem. The treatment emphasizes clarity and accessibility to the student through use of examples and intuition.