scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers by "Kenneth J. Arrow published in 1994"


Posted Content
TL;DR: The authors argue that social categories are in fact used in economic analysis all the time and that they appear to be absolute necessities of the analysis, not just figures of speech that can be eliminated if need be.
Abstract: It is a touchstone of accepted economics that all explanations must run in terms of the actions and reactions of individuals. Our behavior in judging economic research, in peer review of papers and research, and in promotions, includes the criterion that in principle the behavior we explain and the policies we propose are explicable in terms of individuals, not of other social categories. I want to argue today that a close examination of even the most standard economic analysis shows that social categories are in fact used in economic analysis all the time and that they appear to be absolute necessities of the analysis, not just figures of speech that can be eliminated if need be. I further argue that the importance of technical information in the economy is an especially

375 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For the past thirty-five years, Herbert Scarf has made fundamental contributions in studies of inventories, the core, computation of equilibria, and integer programming.
Abstract: For the past thirty-five years, Herbert Scarf has made fundamental contributions in studies of inventories, the core, computation of equilibria, and integer programming. His work has simultaneously sought the most general and abstract formulations while simplifying the theory and bringing it closer to applications.

9 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: From 1948 until the present, the UN has engaged in 26 peace-keeping operations and the total cost over that period has been about $8.3 billion (current) as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: From 1948 until the present, the UN has engaged in 26 peace-keeping operations. The total cost over that period has been about $8.3 billion (current). In 1992 there were 12 operations under way, for an annual cost of about $2.6 billion.1 This is less than 1 per cent of US military expenditure and probably less than 0.2 per cent of world military expenditure, so it is a trivial fraction of world income. Nevertheless, raising the finances for this operation is not entirely a trivial matter; uncollected contributions from member states equal more than $735 million.

8 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the desirability and feasibility of establishing a new Graduate School of Economics and Economic Development (SEED) as an international center of excellence in a Third-World country.

2 citations


Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the implications and deficiencies of general competitive equilibrium theory for understanding levels of and changes in the distributions of earnings and income, and suggest a major role for transaction costs, prominently absent from standard equilibrium theory.
Abstract: This paper considers some of the implications and deficiencies of general competitive equilibrium theory for understanding levels of and changes in the distributions of earnings and income. Although leisure is a consumer good, and therefore a component of income, little is made of this notion in analyzing earnings distributions. Increased income inequality during recessions suggests that lower-income earners are more likely laid off or fired. Yet the explanation — seemingly in hiring and firing costs — suggests a major role for transaction costs, prominently absent from standard equilibrium theory. Explanation of the very wide distribution of income leads almost inevitably to dynamic theories; yet dynamic choices and processes seem to be under-represented in the literature.

1 citations