Retrospectives: the origins of the representative agent

Article Abstract:

The 'representative agent' was an Alfred Marshall construct first referred to in his 'Principles of Economics' while outlining conditions of supply. Marshall's usage of representative firm as an abstraction was an attempt to overcome variations in firm sizes and industry supply. Despite its constricted meaning and applicability, the notion of representative firm drew sharp criticism and was labeled as a vague concept that belied heterogeneous realities. However, a broader notion of the representative agent has now been reinstated as one of the most widely used assumptions in economic studies.

Analysis, Criticism and interpretation, Consumers, Manufacturers' agents, Manufacturers' representatives, Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics (book)

---

Retrospectives: ethics and the invisible hand

Article Abstract:

An analysis of the development of Adam Smith's invisible hand theory is presented. It is shown that the invisible hand has implied a recognition of the evolution of a market system which is influenced by autonomous individual choices in an interdependent world. However, the ethical aspect of Smith's theory has often been neglected. The invisible hand theory was developed with a foundation built on creating human beings whose choices reflect a consideration for social ethics.

Research, Ethics, Free enterprise, Smith, Adam (Economist)

---

Retrospectives: the convergence debate between David Hume and Josiah Tucker

Article Abstract:

The convergence-divergence debate centers on the contention that per capita income, productivity and technology of integrating economies converge. This debate, considered to be one of the major doctrinal debates in economic thought, can be traced back to the time of David Hume for the convergence side and Josiah Tucker and James Oswald on the nonconvergence side.

Convergence (Mathematics), Hume, David, Tucker, Josiah

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Product differentiation and price competition between a safe and risky seller. Why do workers spend so much time on inferior tasks?
• Abstracts: Direct tests of the reservation wage property. On testing the utility hypothesis. Eliciting reservation prices: Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanisms vs. markets
• Abstracts: Response rates for the Consumer Price Index. Response rates for the consumer price indexes, 1992. Update of CPI sample of urban areas planned for 1998
• Abstracts: Sources of U.S. macroeconomic fluctuations: 1973-1989. The size of the random walk in macroeconomic time series
• Abstracts: Real interest rate parity new measures and tests. A re-examination of the exchange rate-interest differential relationship: evidence from Germany and Japan

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.