Economic Foundations of Symmetric Programming

Quirino Paris is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis, where he has taught since 1969. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1966 and then served on the university staff of the Advanced Training Center for Economic Research at the University of Naples, Italy. Professor Paris's research has concentrated on investigations of producer and consumer behavior, of which the present text is the most recent example. He is the author of more than 100 journal articles in economics and research methodology and of the textbook An Economic Interpretation of Linear Programming (1991). Professor Paris is also a Fellow of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. He has served as a visiting professor at universities around the world.

'I am thrilled to see Professor Paris put his knowledge of symmetric programming in print. The range of economic models that can be cast in this framework is virtually unlimited. In addition, the symmetric programming approach leads to a deeper understanding of economic principles as well as derivation of practical decision rules for policy makers and businesspeople.' Ken Foster, Purdue University

• 1. Introduction; 2. Lagrangean theory; 3. Karush–Kuhn–Tucker theory; 4. Solving systems of linear equations; 5. Asymmetric and symmetric quadratic programming; 6. Linear complementarity problem; 7. The price taker; 8. The monopolist; 9. The monopsonist; 10. Risk programming; 11. Comparative statics and parametric programming; 12. General market equilibrium; 13. Two-person zero- and non-zero-sum games; 14. Positive mathematical programming; 15. Multiple optimal solutions; 16. Lemke complementary pivot algorithm - user manual; 17. Lemke Fortran 77 program.