IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/compec/v58y2021i1d10.1007_s10614-020-09989-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Realizable Utility Maximization as a Mechanism for the Stability of Competitive General Equilibrium in a Scarf Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Tongkui Yu

    (Southwest University
    National Chengchi University)

  • Shu-Heng Chen

    (National Chengchi University)

Abstract

A competitive general equilibrium (CGE) is a Pareto-optimal allocation, but it is not always stable under the mechanism of the tâtonnement process. How to drive an economy to the CGE and maintain its stability remains to be an issue with a high intellectual interest. In this article, using the celebrated counterexample of the Scarf economy, we first provide an intuitive and explicit explanation to analyze why the CGE is unstable under the tâtonnement process. Then a novel mechanism, called the realizable utility maximization mechanism (RUMM), is proposed in which the price of a product is adjusted not according to the excess demand as in the standard tâtonnement process, but according to the potential utility of the individuals owning the product. It is found that the RUMM can maintain the stability of the CGE even in the Scarf economy, and can shed light on the role of social learning in stabilizing the Scarf economy as we have learned from the literature of agent-based non-tâtonnement models.

Suggested Citation

  • Tongkui Yu & Shu-Heng Chen, 2021. "Realizable Utility Maximization as a Mechanism for the Stability of Competitive General Equilibrium in a Scarf Economy," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 58(1), pages 133-167, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:compec:v:58:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10614-020-09989-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10614-020-09989-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10614-020-09989-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10614-020-09989-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mandel, Antoine & Gintis, Herbert, 2014. "Stochastic stability in the Scarf economy," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 44-49.
    2. Mandel, Antoine & Gintis, Herbert, 2016. "Decentralized Pricing and the equivalence between Nash and Walrasian equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 84-92.
    3. Arifovic, Jasmina, 1994. "Genetic algorithm learning and the cobweb model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-28, January.
    4. Antoine Mandel, 2012. "Agent-based dynamics in the general equilibrium model," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00732823, HAL.
    5. Kirman, Alan, 1989. "The Intrinsic Limits of Modern Economic Theory: The Emperor Has No Clothes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(395), pages 126-139, Supplemen.
    6. Robert Axtell, 2005. "The Complexity of Exchange," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(504), pages 193-210, June.
    7. Albin, Peter & Foley, Duncan K., 1992. "Decentralized, dispersed exchange without an auctioneer : A simulation study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 27-51, June.
    8. Crockett, Sean & Spear, Stephen & Sunder, Shyam, 2008. "Learning competitive equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(7-8), pages 651-671, July.
    9. Shu-Heng Chen & Chia-Hsuan Yeh, 2000. "Simulating economic transition processes by genetic programming," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 265-286, December.
    10. Anderson, Christopher M. & Plott, Charles R. & Shimomura, K.-I.Ken-Ichi & Granat, Sander, 2004. "Global instability in experimental general equilibrium: the Scarf example," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 209-249, April.
    11. Sean Crockett, 2008. "Learning competitive equilibrium in laboratory exchange economies," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 34(1), pages 157-180, January.
    12. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01296646 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Eric Maskin & Kevin Roberts, 2008. "On the fundamental theorems of general equilibrium," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 35(2), pages 233-240, May.
    14. Gintis Herbert, 2006. "The Emergence of a Price System from Decentralized Bilateral Exchange," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17, December.
    15. H. Uzawa, 1960. "Walras' Tâtonnement in the Theory of Exchange," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 27(3), pages 182-194.
    16. Herbert Gintis, 2007. "The Dynamics of General Equilibrium," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1280-1309, October.
    17. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00732823 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00977572 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shu-Heng Chen & Bin-Tzong Chie & Ying-Fang Kao & Ragupathy Venkatachalam, 2019. "Agent-Based Modeling of a Non-tâtonnement Process for the Scarf Economy: The Role of Learning," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 305-341, June.
    2. Chen, Shu-Heng, 2012. "Varieties of agents in agent-based computational economics: A historical and an interdisciplinary perspective," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 1-25.
    3. Sean Crockett, 2013. "Price Dynamics In General Equilibrium Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 421-438, July.
    4. Crockett, Sean & Spear, Stephen & Sunder, Shyam, 2008. "Learning competitive equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(7-8), pages 651-671, July.
    5. Gräbner, Claudius, 2015. "Methodology Does Matter: About Implicit Assumptions in Applied Formal Modelling. The case of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Models vs Agent-Based Models," MPRA Paper 63003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Mandel, Antoine & Gintis, Herbert, 2016. "Decentralized Pricing and the equivalence between Nash and Walrasian equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 84-92.
    7. Gräbner, Claudius & Heinrich, Torsten & Kudic, Muhamed, 2016. "Structuration processes in complex dynamic systems - an overview and reassessment," MPRA Paper 69095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Gerard Ballot & Antoine Mandel & Annick Vignes, 2015. "Agent-based modeling and economic theory: where do we stand?," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 10(2), pages 199-220, October.
    9. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01296646 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Ghosal, Sayantan & Porter, James, 2010. "Out-Of-Equilibrium Dynamics With Decentralized Exchange: Cautious Trading And Convergence To Efficiency," Economic Research Papers 271179, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    11. Jacob K. Goeree & Luke Lindsay, 2012. "Stabilizing the economy: Market design and general equilibrium," ECON - Working Papers 092, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    12. Ghosal, Sayantan & Porter, James, 2013. "Decentralised exchange, out-of-equilibrium dynamics and convergence to efficiency," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-21.
    13. Goeree, Jacob K. & Lindsay, Luke, 2016. "Market design and the stability of general equilibrium," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 37-68.
    14. Суслов В.И. & Доможиров Д.А. & Ибрагимов Н.М. & Костин В.С. & Мельникова Л.В. & Цыплаков А.А., 2016. "Агент-Ориентированная Многорегиональная Модель “Затраты-Выпуск” Российской Экономики," Журнал Экономика и математические методы (ЭММ), Центральный Экономико-Математический Институт (ЦЭМИ), vol. 52(1), pages 112-131, январь.
    15. Kemp-Benedict Eric, 2017. "Dynamic Stability of Post-Keynesian Pricing," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, June.
    16. Claudius Gräbner & Catherine S. E. Bale & Bernardo Alves Furtado & Brais Alvarez-Pereira & James E. Gentile & Heath Henderson & Francesca Lipari, 2019. "Getting the Best of Both Worlds? Developing Complementary Equation-Based and Agent-Based Models," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 53(2), pages 763-782, February.
    17. Mandel, Antoine & Landini, Simone & Gallegati, Mauro & Gintis, Herbert, 2015. "Price dynamics, financial fragility and aggregate volatility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 257-277.
    18. Athreya, Kartik B., 2014. "Big Ideas in Macroeconomics: A Nontechnical View," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262019736, April.
    19. Rabani, Yuval & Schulman, Leonard J., 2021. "The invisible hand of Laplace: The role of market structure in price convergence and oscillation," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    20. Donald C. Keenan & Taewon Kim, 2022. "Closing the invisible hand: a rehabilitation of tâtonnement dynamics," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 17(3), pages 681-711, July.
    21. Jean-Marc Bonnisseau & Orntangar Nguenamadji, 2013. "Discrete Walrasian exchange process," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 52(3), pages 1091-1100, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:compec:v:58:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10614-020-09989-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.