Donald A. Walker - Böcker

Walras's Market Models describes and evaluates Léon Walras's models of competitive markets. Through identification of his career phases and the associated general equilibrium models, which are shown to be very different in character, this book differs from previous examinations of his work. During his mature phase of theoretical activity, Walras was concerned with a competitive economy which passes through a phase of disequilibrium in the production and sales of commodities. While in his last phase of theoretical activity, he developed a model in which there is no production, sales, hiring, consuming or saving until an assumed set of equilibrium prices obtains of the model. The two phases of Walras's theoretical work have not previously been identified, and the models have not been subjected to an accurate analysis and evaluation.

In this book Dr Walker brings together Dr William Jaffé's essays on the important and interesting work of Léon Walras, the founder of general equilibrium analysis. The essays were selected on the basis of their importance to the Walrasian literature, in that they provide information on Walras's intellectual biography with which we would otherwise be unfamiliar or they make a contribution to the interpretation and analysis of his ideas. One of Jaffé's main interests was to explain the genesis of Walras's work, which he did by examining Walras's biography. Using a wide variety of sources, Jaffé pieced together an account of these matters in the belief that biography is essential for understanding the origins and development of a scientist's work. Jaffé corrected what he regarded as errors of interpretation of Walras by other writers, evaluated Walras's contributions, and indicated his significance for modern economics. The essays are informative, illuminating, and - as a result of Jaffé's scholarly and literary craftsmanship - aesthetically satisfying.

In this book Dr Walker brings together Dr William Jaffé's essays on the important and interesting work of Léon Walras, the founder of general equilibrium analysis. The essays were selected on the basis of their importance to the Walrasian literature, in that they provide information on Walras's intellectual biography with which we would otherwise be unfamiliar or they make a contribution to the interpretation and analysis of his ideas. One of Jaffé's main interests was to explain the genesis of Walras's work, which he did by examining Walras's biography. Using a wide variety of sources, Jaffé pieced together an account of these matters in the belief that biography is essential for understanding the origins and development of a scientist's work. Jaffé corrected what he regarded as errors of interpretation of Walras by other writers, evaluated Walras's contributions, and indicated his significance for modern economics. The essays are informative, illuminating, and - as a result of Jaffé's scholarly and literary craftsmanship - aesthetically satisfying.

In order to understand the various strands of general equilibrium theory, why it has taken the forms that it has since the time of Léon Walras, and to appreciate fully a view of the state of general equilibrium theorising, it is essential to understand Walras's work and examine its influence. The first section of this book accordingly examines the foundations of Walras's work. These include his philosophical and methodological approach to economic modelling, his views on human nature, and the basic components of his general equilibrium models. The second section examines how the influence of his ideas has been manifested in the theorising of his successors, surveying the models of theorists such as H. L. Moore, Vilfredo Pareto, Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Abraham Wald, John von Neumann, J. R. Hicks, Kenneth Arrow, and Gerard Debreu. The treatment also examines models of many types in which Walras's influence is explicitly acknowledged.

Walras's Market Models describes and evaluates Léon Walras's models of competitive markets. Through identification of his career phases and the associated general equilibrium models, which are shown to be very different in character, this book differs from previous examinations of his work. During his mature phase of theoretical activity, Walras was concerned with a competitive economy which passes through a phase of disequilibrium in the production and sales of commodities. While in his last phase of theoretical activity, he developed a model in which there is no production, sales, hiring, consuming or saving until an assumed set of equilibrium prices obtains of the model. The two phases of Walras's theoretical work have not previously been identified, and the models have not been subjected to an accurate analysis and evaluation.

In order to understand the various strands of general equilibrium theory, why it has taken the forms that it has since the time of Léon Walras, and to appreciate fully a view of the state of general equilibrium theorising, it is essential to understand Walras's work and examine its influence. The first section of this book accordingly examines the foundations of Walras's work. These include his philosophical and methodological approach to economic modelling, his views on human nature, and the basic components of his general equilibrium models. The second section examines how the influence of his ideas has been manifested in the theorising of his successors, surveying the models of theorists such as H. L. Moore, Vilfredo Pareto, Knut Wicksell, Gustav Cassel, Abraham Wald, John von Neumann, J. R. Hicks, Kenneth Arrow, and Gerard Debreu. The treatment also examines models of many types in which Walras's influence is explicitly acknowledged.

In his fourth edition of Éléménts d'économie politique pure (1900), León Walras introduced the device of written pledges to eliminate path dependency: sellers of products and services write out commitments to supply certain quantities at suggested prices with no commodities actually produced and supplied until a set of prices is found at which supply and demand are equal simultaneously in every market. This brought about very serious alterations to the character of the book. Unfortunately, these changes resulted in an incomplete, internally contradictory, and occasionally incoherent text. This translation, therefore, by two leading scholars of León Walras' work, Donald A. Walker and Jan van Daal, revisits the third edition of this seminal work, including Walras' brilliant explanation of his comprehensive model, with all its richness derived from reality. Growing research into Walras' work indicates that it was this third edition that contained his best theoretical research and a translation of this edition of the book is now a necessity.

In his fourth edition of Éléménts d'économie politique pure (1900), León Walras introduced the device of written pledges to eliminate path dependency: sellers of products and services write out commitments to supply certain quantities at suggested prices with no commodities actually produced and supplied until a set of prices is found at which supply and demand are equal simultaneously in every market. This brought about very serious alterations to the character of the book. Unfortunately, these changes resulted in an incomplete, internally contradictory, and occasionally incoherent text. This translation, therefore, by two leading scholars of León Walras' work, Donald A. Walker and Jan van Daal, revisits the third edition of this seminal work, including Walras' brilliant explanation of his comprehensive model, with all its richness derived from reality. Growing research into Walras' work indicates that it was this third edition that contained his best theoretical research and a translation of this edition of the book is now a necessity.

In this book, internationally renowned scholars, including two Nobel Laureates, have been drawn together to celebrate Arnold Heertje's rich contribution to the field of economics. Their essays reflect his influence in the areas of economic theory and policy. In particular, they follow in the tradition of his work on oligopoly and price theory, welfare theory and policy, growth theory, environmental economics, technical change and the history of economic thought and methodology.The contributors offer penetrating insights into the structure and functioning of different types of market structures and the character of technical change. In addition, they address current topics such as the recent problems in East Asian economies, the money supply in the European Monetary Union and economic development. Finally, they pay tribute to Arnold Heertje's work on the history of economic thought, discussing the writings of David Ricardo, the German historical school, Herbert Robinson, Alfred Marshall and Herbert Foxwell.This book will attract economic theorists, and scholars and students who are interested in the history of economic thought or in empirical subjects such as the policy implications of studies of labour markets, property rights and European Monetary Union.

Volume I contains papers on the classical and neoclassical schools of economic thought. Many of those papers are relevant for current economic studies and all of them reveal how classical and neoclassical economics had an impact on subsequent doctrinal or practical developments.

Volume II deals first with the contributions of some economists to the policies of specific countries, providing examples of how economic theories have been used in the formulation of practical proposals.

Pieter Hennipman, the leading Dutch economist of the post-war period, made many substantial contributions to economic policy, welfare economics and, latterly, the methodology and history of economic thought during a long and distinguished career.Welfare Economics and the Theory of Economic Policy brings together a key selection of Professor Hennipman's papers - many of which have not been published in English before - which express his profound analysis of the theory of economic policy and his masterful discussion of its definition, character and scope. The pioneering work featured here developed his argument that normative economic statements and economic policies can be analysed scientifically and evaluated with the use of objective criteria. Prominent among these papers are the contributions to welfare economics and Pieter Hennipman's examination of the transition from the view that welfare was exclusively dependent on production to one which saw it as a subjective phenomenon dependent upon consumption. This volume also includes his rigorous and insightful essays on the history of the theory of welfare economics.With a thorough introduction by Donald Walker, this comprehensive volume will improve access to Professor Hennipman's outstanding contributions on the nature of the theory of economic policy as well as papers which place welfare theory in relation to other sections of economic theory in a penetrating and sophisticated manner.

Advances in General Equilibrium Theory presents a new approach to the construction of general equilibrium models. It considers the methods that should be adapted and some of the principal subjects with which general equilibrium modelling should be concerned in order to convert it into a useful body of knowledge.The book examines from new perspectives the major questions that have concerned general equilibrium theorists during this century, including the characteristics of perfect competition and the existence, uniqueness and stability of economic equilibrium. The author develops the concept of models as functioning systems, identifies the differences between models and equation systems and discusses the implications of the differences between mathematical methods and economic determinacy. He demonstrates that the treatment of perfect competition has been deeply flawed, that modern general equilibrium models are not functioning systems, that many equation systems in the literature are not supported by underlying models, and that models which would justify these equations are either improbable or inconceivable. In conclusion, Professor Walker indicates how these perspectives can be used to develop a new general equilibrium model, and presents an outline of its content.Advances in General Equilibrium Theory will be of special interest to microeconomists and those interested in economic methodology and general equilibrium modelling.