General Equilibrium Foundations of Finance

General Equilibrium Foundations of Finance
Author: Thorsten Hens
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2013-03-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475753179

The purpose of this book is to give a sound economic foundation of finance. Finance is a coherent branch of applied economics that is designed to understand financial markets in order to give advice for practical financial decisions. This book argues that for a sound economic foundation of finance the famous general equilibrium model which in its modern form emphasizes the incompleteness of financial markets is well suited. The aim of the book is to demonstrate that financial markets can be meaningfully embedded into a more general system of markets including, for example, commodity markets. The interaction of these markets can be described via the well known notion of a competitive equilibrium. We argue that for a sound foundation this competitive equilibrium should be unique. In a first step we demonstrate that this essential goal cannot of be achieved based only on the rationality principle, i. e. on the assumption utility maximization of some utility function subject to the budget constraint. In particular we show that this important lack of structure is disturbing as well for the case of mean-variance utility functions which are the basis of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, one of the cornerstones of finance. The final goal of our book is to give reasonable restrictions on the agents' utility functions which lead to a well determined financial markets model.

Financial Markets Theory

Financial Markets Theory
Author: Emilio Barucci
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2002-12-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781852334697

A presentation of classical asset pricing theory, this textbook is the only one to address the economic foundations of financial markets theory from a mathematically rigorous standpoint and to offer a self-contained critical discussion based on empirical results. Tools for understanding the economic analysis are provided, and mathematical models are presented in discrete time/finite state space for simplicity. Examples and exercises included.

Financial Markets, Asymmetric Information, and Macroeconomic Equilibrium

Financial Markets, Asymmetric Information, and Macroeconomic Equilibrium
Author: Fabrizio Mattesini
Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Company
Total Pages: 208
Release: 1993
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The study of the interaction between the financial sector and the sector of the economy is one of the most recent advances in macroeconomic theory. While mainstream economics assigns a passive role to the financial sector there is a growing body of literature which emphasizes the importance of financial intermediaries in explaining fluctuations and the determination of the process through which monetary policy impulses are transmitted to the rest of the economy. This literature has its origin in the models that rely on asymmetric information to explain imperfections in financial markts and in empirical evidence collected through various econometric techniques and through historical studies. This book surveys the relevant work ion the subject, evaluates the empirical evidence and the explanatory power of the theories proposed and furnishes new and empirical results.

Exploring General Equilibrium

Exploring General Equilibrium
Author: Fischer S. Black
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2010-05-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0262514095

An incisive, unconventional assessment of general equilibrium theory; with a previously unpublished paper. Fischer Black is known for his brilliance as well as his sometimes controversial opinions. Highly respected for his scholarly writings in finance, he now moves into different territory with this incisive, unconventional assessment of general equilibrium theory and what that theory reveals about business cycles, growth, and labor economics. The general equilibrium approach, Black asserts, can be used to explain most of the economy's behavior. It can explain business cycles and growth without using sticky prices, irrationality, economies of scale, or imperfect competition. It can explain the volatility of consumption, output, sales, investment, and inventories with axiomatic utility and constant-returns-to-scale production. It can explain temporary layoffs, job changes with and without intervening unemployment, and the behavior of vacancies. It can explain lower wages in part-time jobs, wages that increase rapidly with time on the job, and the forces that cause migration from poor to rich countries. Although the general equilibrium approach can't be tested in conventional ways, it can be used to generate examples that explain stylized facts—generalized observations from the real world—that have preoccupied macroeconomists for the last decade. Black contrasts his interpretation of these facts with conventional interpretations. Finally, he reviews a substantial body of literature on these topics.

A General Equilibrium Model of Sovereign Default and Business Cycles

A General Equilibrium Model of Sovereign Default and Business Cycles
Author: Vivian Z. Yue
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2011-07-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1462330452

Emerging markets business cycle models treat default risk as part of an exogenous interest rate on working capital, while sovereign default models treat income fluctuations as an exogenous endowment process with ad-noc default costs. We propose instead a general equilibrium model of both sovereign default and business cycles. In the model, some imported inputs require working capital financing; default on public and private obligations occurs simultaneously. The model explains several features of cyclical dynamics around default triggers an efficiency loss as these inputs are replaced by imperfect substitutes; and default on public and private obligations occurs simultaneously. The model explains several features of cyclical dynamics around deraults, countercyclical spreads, high debt ratios, and key business cycle moments.

Notes and Problems in Applied General Equilibrium Economics

Notes and Problems in Applied General Equilibrium Economics
Author: K.R. Pearson
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2014-06-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 008093403X

"General-equilibrium" refers to an analytical approach which looks at the economy as a complete system of inter-dependent components (industries, households, investors, governments, importers and exporters). "Applied" means that the primary interest is in systems that can be used to provide quantitative analysis of economic policy problems in particular countries. Reflecting the authors' belief in the models as vehicles for practical policy analysis, a considerable amount of material on data and solution techniques as well as on theoretical structures has been included. The sequence of chapters follows what is seen as the historical development of the subject. The book is directed at graduate students and professional economists who may have an interest in constructing or applying general equilibrium models. The exercises and readings in the book provide a comprehensive introduction to applied general equilibrium modeling. To enable the reader to acquire hands-on experience with computer implementations of the models which are described in the book, a companion set of diskettes is available.

General Equilibrium Theory of Value

General Equilibrium Theory of Value
Author: Yves Balasko
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2011-07-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1400838916

The concept of general equilibrium, one of the central components of economic theory, explains the behavior of supply, demand, and prices by showing that supply and demand exist in balance through pricing mechanisms. The mathematical tools and properties for this theory have developed over time to accommodate and incorporate developments in economic theory, from multiple markets and economic agents to theories of production. Yves Balasko offers an extensive, up-to-date look at the standard theory of general equilibrium, to which he has been a major contributor. This book explains how the equilibrium manifold approach can be usefully applied to the general equilibrium model, from basic consumer theory and exchange economies to models with private ownership of production. Balasko examines properties of the standard general equilibrium model that are beyond traditional existence and optimality. He applies the theory of smooth manifolds and mappings to the multiplicity of equilibrium solutions and related discontinuities of market prices. The economic concepts and differential topology methods presented in this book are accessible, clear, and relevant, and no prior knowledge of economic theory is necessary. General Equilibrium Theory of Value offers a comprehensive foundation for the most current models of economic theory and is ideally suited for graduate economics students, advanced undergraduates in mathematics, and researchers in the field.

Financial Economics, Risk and Information

Financial Economics, Risk and Information
Author: Marcelo Bianconi
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 496
Release: 2011-08-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9814355135

Financial Economics, Risk and Information presents the fundamentals of finance in static and dynamic frameworks with focus on risk and information. The objective of this book is to introduce undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the methods and solutions of the main problems in finance theory relating to the economics of uncertainty and information. The main goal of the second edition is to make the materials more accessible to a wider audience of students and finance professionals. The focus is on developing a core body of theory that will provide the student with a solid intellectual foundation for more advanced topics and methods. The new edition has streamlined chapters and topics, with new sections on portfolio choice under alternative information structures. The starting point is the traditional mean-variance approach, followed by portfolio choice from first principles. The topics are extended to alternative market structures, alternative contractual arrangements and agency, dynamic stochastic general equilibrium in discrete and continuous time, attitudes towards risk and towards inter-temporal substitution in discrete and continuous time; and option pricing. In general, the book presents a balanced introduction to the use of stochastic methods in discrete and continuous time in the field of financial economics.

Why is There Money?

Why is There Money?
Author: Ross M. Starr
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0857938061

'This book makes compelling reading for anyone interested in exploring the foundations of monetary theory from a rigorous general equilibrium perspective.' – Gabriele Camera, Purdue University, US 'Introducing the Arrow-Debreu-Starr model of monetary general equilibrium, Professor Starr provides the best defense ever made for the relevance of the Walrasian model to the pure theory of money. While most monetary theorists ventured to the overlapping generations model and then to the search model, only to create recently a hybrid search-Walrasian model, Starr presents the culmination of a patient, career-long effort to integrate money into the basic Walrasian model, with realistic taxation critically helping the government's money to dominate.' – Dror Goldberg, Bar Ilan University, Israel The microeconomic foundation of the theory of money has long represented a puzzle to economic theory. Why is there Money? derives the foundations of monetary theory from advanced price theory in a mathematically precise family of trading post models. It has long been recognized that the fundamental theoretical analysis of a market economy is embodied in the Arrow-Debreu-Walras mathematical general equilibrium model, with one great deficiency: the analysis cannot accommodate money and financial institutions. In this groundbreaking book, Ross M. Starr addresses this problem directly, by expanding the Arrow-Debreu model to include a multiplicity of trading opportunities, with the resultant endogenous derivation of money as the carrier of value among them. This fundamental breakthrough is achieved while maintaining the Walrasian general equilibrium price-theoretic structure, augmented primarily by the introduction of separate bid and ask prices reflecting transaction costs. The result is foundations of monetary theory consistent with and derived from modern price theory. This fascinating book will provide a stimulating and thought-provoking read for academics and postgraduate students focusing on economics, macroeconomics, macroeconomic policy and finance, money and banking. Central bankers will also find much to interest them within this book.