Studies in Resource Allocation Processes

Arrow, Kenneth J.; Hurwicz, Leonid

ISBN 10: 0521215226 / ISBN 13: 9780521215220

Published by Cambridge, 1977

About this Item

First Edition of this collection of papers that examine aspects of the allocation of resources in large economic systems. Both editors, Kenneth J. Arrow and Leonid Hurwicz, are Nobel Prize winners. Arrow and Hurwicz are authors or co-authors of almost all the papers in the volume. Brown cloth, 482 pages. There is a partial previous owner name stamped on the top page edge. The dust jacket has edge wear and a bit of rubbing. Otherwise, minimal sign of previous use.

Seller Inventory # 012976

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Studies in Resource Allocation Processes
• Publisher: Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521215226
• ISBN 13: 9780521215220
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

One of the central questions of economics relates to the coordination of individual units within a large organization to achieve the central objectives of that organization. This book examines the problems involved in allocating resources in an economic system where decision-making is decentralized into the hands of individuals and individual enterprises. The decisions made by these economic agents must be coordinated because the input decisions of some must eventually equal the output decisions of others. Coordination arises naturally out of the mathematical theory of optimization but there is still the question of how it can be achieved in practice with dispersed knowledge. The essays here explore the many facets of this problem. Nine papers are grouped under the title 'Economies with a single maximand'. They include papers on static and dynamic optimization, decentralization within firms, and nonconvexities in optimizing problems. Fourteen papers are concerned with 'Economies with multiple objectives'. Among the topics covered here are stability of competitive equilibrium, stability in oligopology, and dynamic shortages. The final part of the book includes three papers on informational efficiency and informationally decentralized systems. Leonid Hurwitcz is the Nobel Prize Winner 2007 for The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, along with colleagues Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson, for his work on the effectiveness of markets.

Book Description

Essays discussing a fundamental point in economics, the mechanisms for coordinating the allocation of resources in an economic system where the decisions are decentralized.