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A Comment On Gintis's "The Dynamics of General Equilibrium"

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Author Info
Ennio Bilancini () (University of Siena)
Fabio Petri () (University of Siena)

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Abstract

Gintis (2007, 'The Dynamics of General Equilibrium', Economic Journal 117 (523) , 1280–1309) provides an agent-based model of a Walrasian economy where the tâtonnement is replaced by imitation. His simulations show that the economy converges to the Walrasian equilibrium. Gintis concludes that 1) his stability results provide some justification for the importance placed upon the Walrasian model, and 2) models allowing agents to imitate successful others lead to an economy with a reasonable level of stability and efficiency. Since these conclusions appear to be intended as general, we caution that Gintis's findings can only be accepted for Walrasian models without capital goods; in models with capital goods imitation-based adjustments alter the equilibrium's data (which makes the demonstration of stability impossible) and raise other important problems (absent from Gintis's simulations) still awaiting exploration.

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File URL: http://economicsbulletin.vanderbilt.edu/2008/volume2/EB-08B00001A.pdf
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Economics Bulletin in its journal Economics Bulletin.

Volume (Year): 2 (2008)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 1-7
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Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:v:2:y:2008:i:3:p:1-7

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Related research
Keywords: Walrasian equilibrium; imitation; stability; agent-based simulations; capital goods;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
B0 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General
D5 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Herbert E. Scarf, 1959. "Some Examples of Global Instability of the Competitive Equilibrium," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 79, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  2. Herbert Gintis, 2007. "The Dynamics of General Equilibrium," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1280-1309, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Robert Axtell, 2005. "The Complexity of Exchange," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(504), pages F193-F210, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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