Thèse. - Lyon. / Bibliographie: p. [365]-374.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2006. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-327)

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Murdoch University, 2002. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education. Bibliography: leaves i-xiv.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-220). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (D. Comm.(Financial management sciences))-University of Pretoria, 2005. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-130). Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This thesis analyses whether the criticism that 20th c economic theory is too abstract, and lacking in economic meaning as a consequence of being mathematical, is justified, from a methodological perspective that is epistemological in character (cf ch2 and Cheix, 1996). Using, firstly the 'external' historical approach, that compares. Economics to the sciences (especially Mathematics chs 5, 6, 7, 8); and, secondly, the semiotic approach, that enquires into the contribution of notation to meaning, the thesis examines the historical and cognitive raison d'etre of mathematics in Economics. The thesis identifies (chs l, 2) 20th c mathematical-economics with model building and neoclassical theory. The main lines of argument are developed with reference to Jevons' Theory of Political Economy and Debreu's Theory of Value. This limitation is practical but not unnecessarily restrictive as the authors are major neo-classical writers, and mathematical economics has developed along the lines they envisaged. Further, neo-classical ideas have established themselves as paradigms of 20th c Economics, and have influenced theories in the social sciences and their mathematization. It is shown that Jevons (ch5) used the symbolism, and in particular, the linearity property of differentials to unify economic theory and the sciences on the pattern of Physics. For him however, the mathematization of economics involved also empirical and experimental inquiries using statistics. For the case of Debreu (ch6) it is shown how he used set-theoretic formalism and fixed point theorems to provide equilibrium theory with logico-mathematical content. This content is viewed as an axiomatic and deductive structure implying equilibrium. The definitions of mathematical economic models discussed in Part 3 show that economics was mathematized through influences not only from Physics, but also from Logic, and, more widely from the 20th c (socio-cultural) trend of model building in science. It is argued that this latter trend is not exclusively, or even necessarily, rooted in neo-classical economics. The semiotic analysis of chs 5 and 6 reveals how notations connect different interpretative levels ('isotopies') of mathematical theories, and how inconsistences may arise between these levels. The general conclusion of the thesis given certain methodological provisos, is that mathematization, in itself, is not a cause of, or explanation for, the emptiness of economic theories.

O objetivo desta dissertação é investigar as contribuições à teoria de processo de mercado feitas pelos principais economistas da Escola Austríaca desde o seu ressurgimento na década de setenta do século XX. Inicialmente situam-se os problemas tratados pela teoria de processo, apresentando-se as contribuições anteriores realizadas por Hayek nas décadas de trinta e quarenta, em especial o que ficou conhecido como o "problema do conhecimento" deste autor. A partir disso, estudam-se as contribuições das duas figuras principais do ressurgimento da escola, Ludwig Lachmann e Israel Kirzner. A investigação privilegia o estudo das implicações do subjetivismo para a teoria do processo de mercado do primeiro e a teoria da atividade empresarial do segundo. Segue-se com o debate ocorrido na década de oitenta que confronta as idéias desses dois autores a respeito da existência de uma tendência ao equilíbrio de mercado. Conclui-se com alguns desenvolvimentos mais recentes da teoria. A obra dos autores, o debate entre eles e as contribuições posteriores são analisadas sob o ponto de vista da epistemologia evolucionária de Popper. / The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the contributions to the theory of market process made by the most important economists of the Austrian School since its revival in the seventies. We initially pose the problems the theory of market process deal with, showing the early contributions to that theory made by Hayek in the 30´s and 40´s, specially what was known latter as his "knowledge problem" After this, we study the contributions of the two leading figures of the revival, Ludwig Lachmann and Israel Kirzner. The investigation focus on the former’s study of the implications of subjectivism to market process theory and the latter's theory of entrepreneurship. After that, we deal with the debate that happened in the 80´s, confronting the views of the two authors concerning the existence of a tendency toward market equilibrium. We conclude with some more recent developments of the theory. The work of the authors, the debate among them and the latter contributions are discussed under the view of Popper's evolutionary epistemology.

The first essay of this dissertation analyzes the claim that a Marshallian total surplus optimum characterizes a second-best Pareto optimum in a general equilibrium model with price makers. The main result of this essay is that a Marshallian total surplus optimum corresponds to a second-best Pareto optimum when (i) the consumer's preferences are quasi-linear with respect to a numeraire, and (ii) for all other markets except the one under consideration, first-best (or Paretian) optimality conditions are satisfied. The second essay characterizes the optimal regulatory policy for point-source pollution emissions when firms are competing in Cournot fashion in the product market and have private information about their own cost. It is shown that the optimal regulatory policy benefits from the strategic interaction between the firms in the output market even though the firms' private information is uncorrelated. The firms strategic interaction in the output market acts as an information correlation externality that mitigates the wellknown "rent-extraction efficiency" trade-off. Each firms' opportunity to over-report their costs is reduced because the output market's strategic interaction reduces the profitability of infra-marginal units if they do. The main result shows that optimal environmental regulations discriminate between firms of given industry. Moreover, it is shown that if the regulator believes that firm A is always more likely to be efficient than firm B (in the sense of first-order stochastic dominance) and that both firms are equally efficient ex post, then firm A faces a higher marginal tax than its competitor. In light of this result, it is argued that the model provides theoretical foundations for grandfather clauses in environmental regulations.

No description available.

Thesis (B. Ec.(Hons))--University of Adelaide, 1980. / Cover title. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-86).