Combinatorial Heuristic Algorithms With Fortran

Combinatorial Heuristic Algorithms with FORTRAN

Are Policy Variables Exogenous?

1. 1 Motivation and Definition of Topic To provide motivation and to help define the topic of this study, important links between specific areas of economic theory are first highlighted. (i) Learning and Rational Expectations Theory In a standard rational expectations setting, agents in equilibrium have all the information about the model that enables them to correctly forecast future payoff-relevant variables. What rational expectations theory in its standard form does not tell us is what happens outside a rational expectations equilibrium. Less than complete knowledge of the model is a possible way to represent a situation outside the rational expectations equilibrium. It is natural to assume that agents recognize error and optimally utilize all available external information to improve on their information level, i. e. learn. Based on the information acquired by learning they modify their behavior. Under certain conditions learning steers the economy to the rational expectations equilibrium (Spear (1989), Blume, Bray and Easley (1982), Townsend (1983». This literature shows that learning is a possible mechanism to acquire the necessary level of information that agents are assumed to possess in a rational expectations equilibrium and hence there is a clear link between rational expectations theory and the 2 theory of learning. This fact is also emphasized among others by Friedman (1975), Pesaran (1987) and DeCanio (1979). (ii) Rational Expectations and Econometrics The equilibrium consequences of the rational expectations hypothesis are discussed in a considerable body of literature - cf.

Decision Processes in Economics

This book contains a selection of the papers presented at the symposium on "Decision processes in Economics" which was held in Modena (Italy) on 9-10 October 1989. It coincided with the annual meeting of the italian group on Game Theory; the group is formed by economists, mathematicians, engineers and social scientists. One of the targets of the Meeting, and therefore of the book, is to create an opportunity for having together papers by scientists with an "optimal control" education and papers by theorists on refinement of equilibrium, on repeted games and other topics. These two modes of working on Games are quite different but we think that a unitary approch to Games can be given and this book is an attempt in this direction. Another important and updated issue which is emphisized in the book is the discussion of computation and efficiency of numerical methods in Games. Stochastic differential games are treated in the papers by Basar, Haurie -and Deissemberg. Basar considers a stochastic model of a conflict situation between the monetary policy maker (go vernment) and the responding agent (private sector). Because of asymmetry in the (stochastic) information available the Nash and the Stackelberg games become non standard stochastic diffe rential games. After the discussion of the conditions leading to a solution he provides a numerical example for the proposed game. Haurie considers a game where the observed state changes according to a stochastic jump process.