Duality and Modern Economics / Edition 1

by Richard Cornes

Overview

Dual arguments have become a standard tool for analysis of problems involving optimization by consumers and producers. The principal aim of this book is to provide a fairly systematic yet simple exposition of the basic structure of such arguments. The emphasis is not on providing mathematically general proofs; instead, a geometric approach is used to provide, in an informal way, an intuitive understanding of duality theory. This book introduces the most common alternative ways of representing preferences and technologies, such as indirect utility and distance functions, expenditure and cost functions, and profit and revenue functions. and it discusses the assumptions under which alternative formulations contain precisely the same information. Results such as Roy's identity. the Hotelling-Wold identity, and Shephard's lemma are fully explained. as are their roles in facilitating analysis of behaviour.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521336017
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/28/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.79(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Some Background: 1. Some formal preliminaries: An informal treatment; Part II. Modelling Individual Consumer and Producer Behaviour: 2. Individual consumer behaviour: Direct and indirect utility functions; 3. Individual consumer behaviour: Expenditure and distance functions; 4. Individual consumer behavior: Further useful relationships and formulations; 5. Producer behavior; 6. Consumer and producer behaviour: More useful topics; 7. Consumer theory with many constraints; Part III. Applying the Model of Individual Behaviour: 8. Aggregation analysis; 9. Consumer theory and welfare; 10. Externalities and public goods.