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Curvature, Minimality and Uniqueness of Equilibrium

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  • Andrea Loi
  • Stefano Matta

Abstract

For a smooth pure exchange economy with fixed aggregate resources, we study two geometric conditions on the equilibrium manifold $E(r)$ endowed with the metric induced from its Euclidean ambient space. First, for arbitrary numbers of commodities and consumers, we prove that intrinsic flatness forces equilibrium prices to be locally constant. Together with Balasko's uniqueness--constancy criterion, this yields a necessary and sufficient condition: $E(r)$ is intrinsically flat if and only if the normalized equilibrium price is unique for every economy with aggregate resources $r$. This extends the curvature--uniqueness theorem of \cite{LoiMatta2018} and completes the higher-dimensional direction pursued in \cite{LoiMattaUccheddu2023}. Second, in the two-commodity case, we show that minimality of $E(r)$ already forces local constancy of the price map. Under the uniform-distribution interpretation of \cite{LoiMatta2021}, this gives the minimal-entropy/uniqueness equivalence without the additional asymptotic assumption used there. Both arguments rely on the same local parametrization of $E(r)$ and avoid the explicit construction of a normal frame.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Loi & Stefano Matta, 2026. "Curvature, Minimality and Uniqueness of Equilibrium," Papers 2606.05163, arXiv.org.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2606.05163
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Loi, Andrea & Matta, Stefano, 2011. "Catastrophes minimization on the equilibrium manifold," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 617-620.
    2. Loi Andrea & Matta Stefano, 2023. "Risk Aversion and Uniqueness of Equilibrium in Economies with Two Goods and Arbitrary Endowments," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 679-696, June.
    3. Andrea Loi & Stefano Matta, 2024. "Endowments, patience types, and uniqueness in two-good HARA utility economies," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 12(2), pages 157-165, December.
    4. Debreu, Gerard, 1970. "Economies with a Finite Set of Equilibria," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 38(3), pages 387-392, May.
    5. Toda, Alexis Akira & Walsh, Kieran James, 2024. "Recent advances on uniqueness of competitive equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    6. Loi, Andrea & Matta, Stefano, 2021. "Minimal entropy and uniqueness of price equilibria in a pure exchange economy," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    7. Loi, Andrea & Matta, Stefano & Uccheddu, Daria, 2023. "Equilibrium selection under changes in endowments: A geometric approach," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Alexis Akira Toda & Kieran James Walsh, 2017. "Edgeworth box economies with multiple equilibria," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 5(1), pages 65-80, April.
    9. Won, Dong Chul, 2023. "A new approach to the uniqueness of equilibrium with CRRA preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    10. Loi, Andrea & Matta, Stefano, 2018. "Curvature and uniqueness of equilibrium," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 62-67.
    11. Geanakoplos, John & Walsh, Kieran James, 2018. "Uniqueness and stability of equilibrium in economies with two goods," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 261-272.
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