IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joecth/v73y2022i2d10.1007_s00199-021-01395-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Walrasian equilibrium theory with and without free-disposal: theorems and counterexamples in an infinite-agent context

Author

Listed:
  • Robert M. Anderson

    (University of California)

  • Haosui Duanmu

    (University of California
    Harbin Institute of Technology)

  • M. Ali Khan

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Metin Uyanik

    (University of Queensland)

Abstract

This paper provides four theorems on the existence of a free-disposal equilibrium in a Walrasian economy: the first with an arbitrary set of agents with compact consumption sets, the next highlighting the trade-offs involved in the relaxation of the compactness assumption, and the last two with a countable set of agents endowed with a weighting structure. The results generalize theorems in the antecedent literature pioneered by Shafer–Sonnenschein in 1975, and currently in the form taken in He–Yannelis 2016. The paper also provides counterexamples to the existence of non-free-disposal equilibrium in cases of both a countable set of agents and an atomless measure space of agents. One of the examples is related to one Chiaki Hara presented in 2005. The examples are of interest because they satisfy all the hypotheses of Shafer’s 1976 result on the existence of a non-free-disposal equilibrium, except for the assumption of a finite set of agents. The work builds on recent work of the authors on abstract economies, and contributes to the ongoing discussion on the modelling of “large” societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert M. Anderson & Haosui Duanmu & M. Ali Khan & Metin Uyanik, 2022. "Walrasian equilibrium theory with and without free-disposal: theorems and counterexamples in an infinite-agent context," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 73(2), pages 387-412, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:73:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s00199-021-01395-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-021-01395-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00199-021-01395-0
    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/s00199-021-01395-0?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. Yannelis, Nicholas C. & Prabhakar, N. D., 1983. "Existence of maximal elements and equilibria in linear topological spaces," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 233-245, December.
    2. Gale, D. & Mas-Colell, A., 1975. "An equilibrium existence theorem for a general model without ordered preferences," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 9-15, March.
    3. Wayne Shafer & Hugo Sonnenschein, 1976. "Equilibrium with Externalities," Discussion Papers 145, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    4. Manelli, Alejandro M, 1991. "Monotonic Preferences and Core Equivalence," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 123-138, January.
    5. Shafer, Wayne & Sonnenschein, Hugo, 1975. "Some theorems on the existence of competitive equilibrium," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 83-93, August.
    6. Khan, M. Ali & Sun, Yeneng, 2002. "Non-cooperative games with many players," Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, in: R.J. Aumann & S. Hart (ed.), Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 1761-1808, Elsevier.
    7. Shafer, Wayne J., 1976. "Equilibrium in economies without ordered preferences or free disposal," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 135-137, July.
    8. Shafer, Wayne & Sonnenschein, Hugo, 1976. "Equilibrium with Externalities, Commodity Taxation, and Lump Sum Transfers," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 17(3), pages 601-611, October.
    9. KHAN , M. Ali & SUN, Yeneng, 1997. "On Loeb measures spaces and their significance for non-cooperative game theory," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 1997012, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    10. Chiaki Hara, 2005. "Existence of Equilibria in Economies with Bads," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(2), pages 647-658, March.
    11. Bergstrom, Theodore C., 1976. "How to discard `free disposability' - at no cost," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 131-134, July.
    12. SCHMEIDLER, David, 1973. "Equilibrium points of nonatomic games," LIDAM Reprints CORE 146, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    13. Guilherme Carmona & Konrad Podczeck, 2016. "Existence of Nash equilibrium in ordinal games with discontinuous preferences," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 61(3), pages 457-478, March.
    14. Khan, M. Ali & Vohra, Rajiv, 1985. "On the existence of lindahl equilibria in economies with a measure space of non-transitive consumers," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 319-332, August.
    15. Hildenbrand, Werner, 1970. "Existence of Equilibria for Economies with Production and a Measure Space of Consumers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 38(5), pages 608-623, September.
    16. Toussaint, Sabine, 1984. "On the existence of equilibria in economies with infinitely many commodities and without ordered preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 98-115, June.
    17. Chiaki Hara, 2006. "An equilibrium existence theorem for atomless economies without the monotonicity assumption," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(34), pages 1-5.
    18. HILDENBRAND, Werner, 1970. "Existence of equilibria for economies with production and a measure space of consumers," LIDAM Reprints CORE 79, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    19. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:4:y:2006:i:34:p:1-5 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Konrad Podczeck & Nicholas C. Yannelis, 2024. "Existence of Walrasian equilibria with discontinuous, non-ordered, interdependent preferences, without free disposal, and with an infinite-dimensional commodity space," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 78(2), pages 389-401, September.
    2. Rabah Amir & Bernard Cornet & M. Ali Khan & David Levine & Edward C. Prescott, 2022. "Special Issue in honor of Nicholas C. Yannelis – Part II," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 73(2), pages 377-385, April.
    3. Niccolò Urbinati, 2023. "The Walrasian objection mechanism and Mas-Colell’s bargaining set in economies with many commodities," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(1), pages 45-68, July.
    4. Yang, Jian, 2022. "A Bayesian nonatomic game and its applicability to finite-player situations," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

    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. Charalambos Aliprantis & Kim Border & Owen Burkinshaw, 1996. "Market economies with many commodities," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 19(1), pages 113-185, March.
    2. M. Ali Khan & Metin Uyanik, 2021. "The Yannelis–Prabhakar theorem on upper semi-continuous selections in paracompact spaces: extensions and applications," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(3), pages 799-840, April.
    3. Yamazaki, Akira & 山崎, 昭, 2001. "On a Problem of Proving the Existence of an Equilibrium in a Large Economy without Free Disposal: A problem of a purely finitely additive measure arising from the Fatou's lemma in several dimensions," Discussion Papers 2000-10, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Hichem Ben-El-Mechaiekh & Philippe Bich & Monique Florenzano, 2009. "General equilibrium and fixed-point theory: a partial survey," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00755998, HAL.
    5. Filipe Martins-da-Rocha, V. & Topuzu, Mihaela, 2008. "Cournot-Nash equilibria in continuum games with non-ordered preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 314-327, May.
    6. Hara, Chiaki, 2005. "Bargaining set and anonymous core without the monotonicity assumption," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4-5), pages 545-556, August.
    7. Paul Oslington, 2012. "General Equilibrium: Theory and Evidence," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(282), pages 446-448, September.
    8. Monique Florenzano, 2009. "Walras-Lindahl-Wicksell: What equilibrium concept for public goods provision," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00531434, HAL.
    9. Monique Florenzano, 2009. "Walras-Lindahl-Wicksell: What equilibrium concept for public goods provision ? I - The convex case," Post-Print halshs-00367867, HAL.
    10. W D A Bryant, 2009. "General Equilibrium:Theory and Evidence," World Scientific Books, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., number 6875, October.
    11. Wei He & Nicholas C. Yannelis, 2016. "Existence of Walrasian equilibria with discontinuous, non-ordered, interdependent and price-dependent preferences," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 61(3), pages 497-513, March.
    12. Khan, M. Ali & McLean, Richard P. & Uyanik, Metin, 2024. "On constrained generalized games with action sets in non-locally-convex and non-Hausdorff topological vector spaces," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Hara, C., 2004. "Existence of Equilibria and Core Convergence in Economies with Bads," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0413, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Charalambos Aliprantis & Rabee Tourky, 2009. "Equilibria in incomplete assets economies with infinite dimensional spot markets," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 38(2), pages 221-262, February.
    15. Florenzano Monique, 1991. "Quasiequilibria in abstract economies application to the overlapping generations models," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 9117, CEPREMAP.
    16. Jacques Durieu & Hans Haller & Nicolas Querou & Philippe Solal, 2008. "Ordinal Games," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(02), pages 177-194.
    17. M. Ali Khan, 2007. "Perfect Competition," PIDE-Working Papers 2007:15, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    18. Bernard Cornet & Mihaela Topuzu, 2005. "Existence of equilibria for economies with externalities and a measure space of consumers," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 26(2), pages 397-421, August.
    19. Bagh, Adib, 1998. "Equilibrium in abstract economies without the lower semi-continuity of the constraint maps," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 175-185, September.
    20. Aliprantis, Charalambos D. & Tourky, Rabee & Yannelis, Nicholas C., 2001. "A Theory of Value with Non-linear Prices: Equilibrium Analysis beyond Vector Lattices," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 22-72, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exchange economy; Walrasian equilibrium; Discontinuous preferences; Free-disposal; Arbitrary set; Externalities; Bads;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D51 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Exchange and Production Economies
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:joecth:v:73:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s00199-021-01395-0. 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.