mathematical economics
From The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition, 2008
Edited by
Steven
N.
Durlauf
and
Lawrence
E.
Blume
Alternate versions available:
1987 Edition
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Abstract
A summary of the emergence and triumph of mathematical economics. The modern phase was deeply influenced by John von Neumann's article of 1928 on games and his paper of 1937 on economic growth. His 1944 Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, coauthored by Oskar Morgenstern, went beyond differential calculus and linear algebra and paved the way for the axiomatization of economic theory. This has enabled researchers to use precisely stated and flawlessly proved results, in the quest for the most direct link between the assumptions and the conclusions of a theorem. Economic theory is fated for a long mathematical future.
Keywords
activity analysis; Allais, M.; Samuelson, P.; Anderson, R.; Arrow, K.; asymptotic equality; Aumann, R.; axiomatized theory; Brouwer's fixed point theorem; Brown, D.; commodity space; competitive equilibrium; contract curve; convexity; cores; Cournot, A.; Debreu, G.; differential calculus; econometrics; Edgeworth, F.; existence of general equilibrium; first theorem of welfare economics; fixed point theorems; general equilibrium; geometry; Hicks, J.; hyperplanes; implicit prices; Kakutani's fixed point theorem; Koopmans, T.; Lebesgue measure; linear programming; Lyapunov's theorem; mathematical economics; McKenzie, L.; Nash, J.; measure theory; minimax theorem; Morgenstern, O.; non-standard analysis; Pareto, V.; price space; real vector space; Robinson, A.; Sard's theorem; Scarf, H.; set of negligible agents; Shubik, M.; Sonnenschein, H.; uncertainty; uniqueness of equilibrium; Vind, K.; von Neumann, J.; von Neumann's lemma; Wald, A.; Walras, L.; Walras's Law
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How to cite this article
Debreu, Gerard. "mathematical economics." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. Palgrave Macmillan. 05 August 2017 <http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_M000107> doi:10.1057/9780230226203.1061