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Linear Programming and Economic Analysis
Designed primarily for economists and those interested in management economics who are not necessarily accomplished mathematicians, this text offers a clear, concise exposition of the relationship of linear programming to standard economic analysis. The research and writing were supported by The RAND Corporation in the late 1950s.
Linear programming has been one of the most important postwar developments in economic theory, but until publication of the present volume, no text offered a comprehensive treatment of the many facets of the relationship of linear programming to traditional economic theory. This book was the first to provide a wide-ranging survey of such important aspects of the topic as the interrelations between the celebrated von Neumann theory of games and linear programming, and the relationship between game theory and the traditional economic theories of duopoly and bilateral monopoly.
Modern economists will especially appreciate the treatment of the connection between linear programming and modern welfare economics and the insights that linear programming gives into the determinateness of Walrasian equilibrium. The book also offers an excellent introduction to the important Leontief theory of input-output as well as extensive treatment of the problems of dynamic linear programming.
Successfully used for three decades in graduate economics courses, this book stresses practical problems and specifies important concrete applications.
Linear programming has been one of the most important postwar developments in economic theory, but until publication of the present volume, no text offered a comprehensive treatment of the many facets of the relationship of linear programming to traditional economic theory. This book was the first to provide a wide-ranging survey of such important aspects of the topic as the interrelations between the celebrated von Neumann theory of games and linear programming, and the relationship between game theory and the traditional economic theories of duopoly and bilateral monopoly.
Modern economists will especially appreciate the treatment of the connection between linear programming and modern welfare economics and the insights that linear programming gives into the determinateness of Walrasian equilibrium. The book also offers an excellent introduction to the important Leontief theory of input-output as well as extensive treatment of the problems of dynamic linear programming.
Successfully used for three decades in graduate economics courses, this book stresses practical problems and specifies important concrete applications.
- GenresEconomicsMathematics
544 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 19, 2017
Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic. I have some experience with linear programming, and was hoping to leverage that knowledge to learn about economic analysis. That didn't happen.
Often "classics" are at least well written; it wasn't that either. The writing was scattered and repetitive:
-They spend a good deal of ink discussing linear models, and economic models, but none about whether either match the real world. This despite the lovely quote "... we can't blithely attribute properties of the real world to an abstract model."
-One example started by discussing sheet metal as an input for the production of automobiles, rambled for a couple of pages about marginal rates of substitution, then finished with a summary about thread as an input in textile production.
-They seem unable to decide whether they are writing a monograph or a textbook: 3 of 16 chapters have exercises.
-It was heavy on jargon - which would be fine if there were definitions. Their peculiar use of "efficiency" confused me until they defined it a hundred pages later. Several terms I couldn't find definitions for even in other sources and I believe to be out of date.
-and on, and on, ad nauseum.
Often "classics" are at least well written; it wasn't that either. The writing was scattered and repetitive:
-They spend a good deal of ink discussing linear models, and economic models, but none about whether either match the real world. This despite the lovely quote "... we can't blithely attribute properties of the real world to an abstract model."
-One example started by discussing sheet metal as an input for the production of automobiles, rambled for a couple of pages about marginal rates of substitution, then finished with a summary about thread as an input in textile production.
-They seem unable to decide whether they are writing a monograph or a textbook: 3 of 16 chapters have exercises.
-It was heavy on jargon - which would be fine if there were definitions. Their peculiar use of "efficiency" confused me until they defined it a hundred pages later. Several terms I couldn't find definitions for even in other sources and I believe to be out of date.
-and on, and on, ad nauseum.
Displaying 1 of 1 review