Showing papers by "Kenneth J. Arrow published in 1993"

Innovation in Large and Small Firms

Abstract: This essay is intended to begin the elaboration of a theme: the interaction between the observed sizes of firms and their internal decision making procedures. This theme is a major one in the symphony of entrepreneurial activity. The entrepreneur, as the maker and changer of economic and productive life, is usually envisaged as an individual. In the neoclassical tradition, he (or, rarely, she) is the lightning calculator, the individual who rapidly scans the field of alternative productive processes and chooses the optimum any given set of prices.

Handbook of Mathematical Economics

Abstract: Uncertainty. Incomplete markets (M. Magill, W. Shafer). The theory of value in security markets (D. Duffie). Sunspot equilibria in sequential markets models (P.A. Chiappori, R. Guesnerie). Utility theory with uncertainty (E. Karni, D. Schmeidler). Infinite Economies. Equilibrium theory in infinite dimensional spaces (A. Mas-Colell, W.R. Zame). Overlapping generations (J. Geanakoplos, H. Polemarchakis). Non-Convexity and Imperfect Competition. Equilibrium analysis with non-convex technologies (D. Brown). Monopolistic competition (J.-P. Benassy). Computation and Mathematical Methods. Computation and multiplicity of equilibria (T. Kehoe). Nonstandard analysis with applications to economics (B. Anderson). Nonlinear dynamical systems: Instability and chaos in economics (W.A. Brock, W.D. Dechert).

Excellence and Equity in Higher Education.

Abstract: Imperfections of capital markets and asymmetric information are possible justifications for the public funding of higher education. As such, public expenditure can increase efficiency. However, this efficiency gain is typically made at the cost of inequities which may take the form of elitism. Democratic oversight is needed to check the extent of such elitism. It is argued that admission to higher education should not be determined by elitist criteria, but (owing to informational asymmetries inherent in the educational process) curriculum content should be controlled by the educated elite.

Economic integration and the future of the nation‐state

Abstract: what it is able to do. Each year, the G7, whether they meet in Munich or London or Tokyo, puts on a bigger and better show. But they also show their decreased ability to do anything useful. That may be a slight exaggeration, but not much. I would like to know where you get the notion that the nation-state is well. Intriligator: When I say it is well, I do not mean that everyone supports what it is doing or that it gets better than a C minus grade. Also, the G7 is an example of supranationalism rather than nationalism. What countries have to do there is coordinate on an international basis. And the fact that it has Harberger: Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this session. I have chaired many sessions, but never in my life have I chaired one where I knew all the people involved but was totally unable to predict what any one of them was going to say. I ask the panel members to hold themselves to about 15 minutes each so that after we are finished, we will have time to have the panelists exchange views and also to have comments and questions from the floor. Without further ado, I will call on Ken Arrow. Arrow: Nations and states are not the same thing. Both are very ancient, but neither is universal in form or organization. Nations as identifiable entities go back to ancient Egypt, the Jews, and the Aztecs. We find a group that identifies itself as in some sense cohesive, in some sense culturally different. When I refer to culture, I particularly mean linguistics but also other distinguishing features. In many cases, including the examples I gave, these groups also were politically organized societies with a rather strong structure, the kind we would describe today as a state. However, we have many divergences between nations and states. In recent times, especially the organizations of large areas of the world cannot really be described as states. And even when we have st3ates and nations, they do not coincide. Sometimes, nations are larger than states--for example, ancient Greece. People of Greece thought of themselves as a very exclusive community, sharply different from non-Greeks. Yet they worked continually at having all the appurtenances of local sovereignty, not Greek sovereignty. The ancient Greeks could not form any kind of Greek unity except under outside compulsion. They fought wars, bloody wars, with each other, which perhaps are the most definitive empirical manifestation of statehood. Nevertheless, they certainly regarded themselves as a nation. Similarly, groups like the Maya had a recognized cultural unity that transcended statehood. On the other hand, we have examples of states that are larger than nations--particularly empires that also go way back in history, such as Assyria, the Persian empire, and probably the greatest exemplar of all, Rome. Indeed, the Aztecs, from a nation, became an empire by conquering and dominating neighboring tribes. The coincidence of the nation and state did exist in some geographically isolated areas typically, such as Egypt and Japan. States and nations get definition by being differentiated from other states and nations. The definition of a state in great part has to do with its relations with other states. Similarly, nations get their differentiation by cultural identity, which also is defined by distinction from others. The particularly interesting question of states is with respect to systems of international relations. I think what we really are interested in here today is that the world in some ways is emerging and that its direction is uncertain in terms of international political structure. One potential direction is a movement away from the uniform community of nations--with at least legally and juridically the same rank--toward bigger entities, of which the European Community is the most conspicuous. Of course, we have moves in the opposite direction, such as in the case of the Soviet Union. But the circumstances there are somewhat special, so the general direction is not at all mixed. …

Proposed Reforms of the Economic System of Information and Decision in the USSR: Commentary and Advice (*)

Abstract: This chapter takes up the range of proposed reforms of the economy receiving attention in the Soviet Union. The chapter is divided into three sections: the first a commentary on the reform discussion (with brief summaries of the leading written plans), the second an attempt to project the broad direction that any adopted program is likely to take with some indication of its possible weaknesses, and the third our suggestions at those points where in our view the program of reform will need strengthening or additional thinking to increase the likelihood that it will come near to achieving its goals.