Economic Evolution and Equilibrium: Bridging the Gap: 591 (Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, 591) - Softcover

Lehmann-Waffenschmidt, Marco

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3540686622 ISBN 13: 9783540686620

Publisher: Springer, 2007

Synopsis

theory,whichformalizesa dynamiceconomicsystemasa systemofdi?erence, or di?erential, equations. There equilibria mean ‘equilibrium trajectories’ of the whole evolution that, in a certain sense, are optimal. A particularly un- tisfactory feature of this conceptualization of an equilibrium, however, is the factthattheintertemporaloptimizingapproachcompletelypredeterminesthe whole future of the economic system. This “closed loop” approach gives rise to the common reproach that economic theory is predominantly concerned with the question of ‘how the economic system ought to behave’ rather than with the question of ‘how does it behave actually’. This is the point at which the new branch of evolutionary economics has made its entrance. In contrast to growth or business cycle theory, evolutionary economics perceives the evolution of the economic system as essentially “open” to true novelties that are unforeseeable by their very nature. This view clearly makes obsolete any conception of equilibrium that resorts to the idea of a ?nal state of rest, or to the idea of an intertemporally optimizing trajectory which is prespeci?ed ab initio by a system of di?erential equations and initial con- tions. To be sure, there have been attempts to reconceptualize the notion of equilibrium from the evolutionary viewpoint. However, these proposals also appear, in one way or another, to hinge on the ideas of rest. This parti- larly applies to the branch of nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaotic motion.

About this title

Synopsis

This work uses various model frameworks to study the evolution of equilibria in an open loop evolving economy in which the model characteristics evolve without any directional restrictions except for continuity. Applying mathematical methods, it is shown that equilibria can always be adapted in a piecewise gradual, non bang-bang way. Furthermore, the analysis provides a complete characterization of the structure of the equilibrium price set of evolving exchange economies. The results allow to derive policy implications for a gradual, frictionless tuning of equilibrium values for open loop evolving economies. The analysis is innovative in both its approach and its results. It contributes to bridging the gap between the traditional static, closed loop, dynamic equilibrium approach and the idea of open loop evolution which has become an attractive concept in economics in recent years.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3540686622
• ISBN 13: 9783540686620
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280