The inverted U-shaped curves that presumably result from the observation that "as income goes up there is an increasing environmental degradation up to a point, after which environmental quality improves" [as quoted in Arrow et al. (1995) article] seem to be merely anecdotes that don't make history. What I mean is that although anecdotes can be true and elucidating, they are normally too limite...

Numerous studies have identified causal factors for academic success. Factors vary from personal factors, such as cognitive style (McKenzie & Schweitzer, 2001), to social factors, such as culture differences (Aysan, Tanrıöğen, & Tanrıöğen, 1996). However, in these studies it is researchers who theorized the causal dimensions and hypothesized the causal factors. Students were passive objects use...

We build a general equilibrium model of occupation choice, where the risks inherent in a technology embodying a new innovation are only vaguely known (ambiguous), whereas the old technology has known risks. Using the Arrow-Hurwicz criterion to characterise decisionmaking in the face of ambiguity, we distinguish agents according to their degree of ambiguity aversion. Equilibrium requires that al...

These notes discuss several topics in neoclassical economics and alternatives, with an aim of reviewing fundamental issues in modeling economic markets. I start with a brief, non-rigorous summary of the basic Arrow-Debreu model of general equilibrium, as well as its extensions to include time and contingency. I then argue that symmetries due to similarly endowed individuals and similar products...

Although marginal cost pricing is necessary for welfare maximization, firms that produce under conditions of decreasing average cost incur losses if they price at marginal cost. In this paper, the Coase two-part tariN is extended to several cases of common costs by assessing surplus in order to recover the losses of the regulated natural monopolist; the existence of equilibria in these cases is...

We present a new algorithm for computing balanced flows in equality networks arising in market equilibrium computations. The current best time bound for computing balanced flows in such networks requires O(n) maxflow computations, where n is the number of nodes in the network [Devanur et al. 2008]. Our algorithm requires only a single parametric flow computation. The best algorithm for computin...

We propose a straightforward dominance procedure for comparing social welfare orderings (SWOs) with respect to the degree of inequality aversion they express. Three versions of the procedure are considered, each of which uses a different underlying criterion of inequality comparisons: (i) a concept based on the Lorenz quasi-ordering, which we argue to be the ideal version, (ii) a concept based ...

We study efficient algorithms for a natural learning problem in markets. There is one seller with m divisible goods and n buyers with unknown individual utility functions and budgets of money. The seller can repeatedly announce prices and observe aggregate demand bundles requested by the buyers. The goal of the seller is to learn the utility functions and budgets of the buyers. Our scenario fal...

The similarity between aggregation procedures in social choice theory and multicriteria decision aiding is well-known : the alternatives play the role of the candidates, the criteria play the role of the voters and the decision-maker plays the role of the society. Many authors, aware of this similarity, have used the formalism of social choice theory in multi-criteria decision aiding; see for e...

Closed sets of finitely-additive probabilities are statistical laws of statistically unstable random phenomena. Decision theory, adapted to such random phenomena, is applied to the problem of valuation of European options. Embedding of the Arrow-Debreu state preference approach to options pricing into decision theoretical framework is achieved by means of considering option prices as decision v...