Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow, Volume 4: The Economics of Information

by Kenneth J. Arrow

Overview

Unlike the papers of some other great economists, those of Kenneth Arrow are being read and studied today with even greater care and attention than when they first appeared in the journals. The publication of his collected papers will therefore be welcomed by economists and other social scientists and in particular by graduate students, who can draw from them the deep knowledge and the discernment in selection of scientific problems that only a master can offer. The author has added headnotes to certain well-known papers, describing how he came to write them.

This volume begins with Arrow's papers on statistical decision theory, which served as a foundation for his work on the economics of information. As he writes in his preface, "Statistical method was an example for the acquisition of information. In a world of uncertainty, it was no great leap to realize that information is valuable in an economic sense." The later, applied papers, which operationalize the theory of the early ones, include essays on the demand for information, the economic value of screening devices, and the effect of incomplete information on the structure of organizations, futures markets, and insurance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674137639
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	10/04/1984
Series:	Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow Series , #4
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

A past president of the American Economic Association, Kenneth J. Arrow was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1972.

Table of Contents

1. Bayes and Minimax Solutions of Sequential Decision Problems

2. Admissible Points of Convex Sets

3. Statistics and Economic Policy

4. Decision Theory and Operations Research

5. Decision Theory and the Choice of a Level of Significance for the t-Test

6. Insurance, Risk, and Resource Allocation

7. Statistical Requirements for Greek Economic Planning

8. The Economics of Moral Hazard: Further Comment

9. The Value of and Demand for Information

10. Higher Education as a Filter

11. Information and Economic Behavior

12. Limited Knowledge and Economic Analysis

13. On the Agenda of Organizations

14. Vertical Integration and Communication

15. Risk Allocation and Information: Some Recent Theoretical Developments

16. The Property Rights Doctrine and Demand Revelation under Incomplete Information

17. Allocation of Resources in Large Teams

18. On Partitioning a Sample with Binary-Type Questions in Lieu of Collecting Observations

Index