Thèse--Paris. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-286).

Diss.--Giessen. / Includes bibliography.

Akademisk avhandling--Gothenburg. / Bibliography: p. 367-375.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2006. / Thesis directed by Steven M. Boker for the Department of Psychology. "December 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-102).

The present work uses statistical mechanics tools to investigate the dynamics of markets, prices, trades and wealth distribution. We studied the evolution of market dynamics in different stages of historical development by analyzing commodity prices from two distinct periods : ancient Babylon, and medieval and early modern England. We find that the first-digit distributrions of both Babylon and England commodity prices follow Benford's Law, indicating that the data represent empirical observations typically arising from a free market. Further, we find that the normalized prices of both Babylon and England agricultural commodities are characterized by stretched exponential distributions, and exhibit persistent correlations of a power law type over long periods of up to several centuries, in contrast to contemporary markets. Our findings suggest that similar market interactions may underlie the dynamics of ancient agricultural commodity prices, and that these interactions may remain stable across centuries. To further investigate the dynamics of markets, we present the analogy between transfers of money between individuals and the transfer of energy through particle collisions by means of the kinetic theory of gases. We introduce a theoretical framework of how micro rules of trading lead to the emergence of income and wealth distribution. Particularly, we study the effects of different types of distribution of savings/investments among individuals in a society and different welfare/subsidies redistribution policies. Results show that while considering savings propensities, the models approach empirical distributions of wealth quite well. The effect of redistribution better captures specific features of the distributions which earlier models failed to do. Moreover, the models still preserve the exponential decay observed in empirical income distributions reported by tax data and surveys. / by Natalia E. Romero. / Vita. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

In this thesis we consider two comparative statics questions of changes in risk. The first question concerns situations where an individual faces some risk and has no control over the uncertain environment. In these situations we ask what kind of changes in risk will cause the individual's expected utility to increase. The second comparative statics question concerns situations where an individual faces some risk and has some control over the uncertain environment. In particular, we consider situations where the individual maximizes her expected utility with respect to some control parameter. Here we ask what kind of changes in risk will cause the individual's optimal value of the control parameter to increase. The existing literature has answered these questions for a class of individuals (for example, the class of risk averse individuals). This thesis differs from existing literature as it focuses on a given individual, and thus reveals some of the person-specific factors that affect individual?s responses to changes in risk. The aim of the thesis is to show how an order on distributions, termed single crossing likelihood ratio (SCLR) order, can intuitively answer both questions for a given individual. The main contributions of the thesis are as follows. First, the thesis presents the SCLR order and its main properties. Second, the thesis shows that the SCLR order can answer the above comparative statics questions in an intuitive way. In particular, the thesis shows that the answer to the above questions, with the use of the SCLR order, depends on a risk reference point which can be interpreted as a "certainty equivalent" point. Thus it is demonstrated that individual's responses to changes in risk are affected by her "certainty equivalent" point. Lastly, the results of the thesis can be used to provide an intuitive explanation of related existing results that were obtained for a class of individuals.

In this thesis we consider two comparative statics questions of changes in risk. The first question concerns situations where an individual faces some risk and has no control over the uncertain environment. In these situations we ask what kind of changes in risk will cause the individual's expected utility to increase. The second comparative statics question concerns situations where an individual faces some risk and has some control over the uncertain environment. In particular, we consider situations where the individual maximizes her expected utility with respect to some control parameter. Here we ask what kind of changes in risk will cause the individual's optimal value of the control parameter to increase. The existing literature has answered these questions for a class of individuals (for example, the class of risk averse individuals). This thesis differs from existing literature as it focuses on a given individual, and thus reveals some of the person-specific factors that affect individual?s responses to changes in risk. The aim of the thesis is to show how an order on distributions, termed single crossing likelihood ratio (SCLR) order, can intuitively answer both questions for a given individual. The main contributions of the thesis are as follows. First, the thesis presents the SCLR order and its main properties. Second, the thesis shows that the SCLR order can answer the above comparative statics questions in an intuitive way. In particular, the thesis shows that the answer to the above questions, with the use of the SCLR order, depends on a risk reference point which can be interpreted as a "certainty equivalent" point. Thus it is demonstrated that individual's responses to changes in risk are affected by her "certainty equivalent" point. Lastly, the results of the thesis can be used to provide an intuitive explanation of related existing results that were obtained for a class of individuals.

Mémoire (G.O.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1999. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU