One of the problems in economics that economists have devoted a considerable amount of attention in prevalent years has been to ensure consistency in the models they employ. Assuming markets to be generally in some state of equilibrium, it is asked under what circumstances such equilibrium is possible. The fundamental mathematical tools used to address this concern are fixed point theorems: the conditions under which sets of assumptions have a solution. This book gives the reader access to the mathematical techniques involved and goes on to apply fixed point theorems to proving the existence...

This new edition of The Hitchhiker s Guide has bene?tted from the comments of many individuals, which have resulted in the addition of some new material, and the reorganization of some of the rest. The most obvious change is the creation of a separate Chapter 7 on convex analysis. Parts of this chapter appeared in elsewhere in the second edition, but much of it is new to the third edition. In particular, there is an expanded discussion of support points of convex sets, and a new section on subgradients of convex functions. There is much more material on the special properties of convex sets...

Over the last fifty years advanced mathematical tools have become an integral part in the development of modern economic theory. Economists continue to invoke sophisticated mathematical techniques and ideas in order to understand complex economic and social problems. In the last ten years the theory of Riesz spaces (vector lattices) has been successfully applied to economic theory. By now it is understood relatively well that the lattice structure of Riesz spaces can be employed to capture and interpret several economic notions. On April 16-20, 1990, a small conference on Riesz Spaces,...

This new edition of The Hitchhiker s Guide has bene?tted from the comments of many individuals, which have resulted in the addition of some new material, and the reorganization of some of the rest. The most obvious change is the creation of a separate Chapter 7 on convex analysis. Parts of this chapter appeared in elsewhere in the second edition, but much of it is new to the third edition. In particular, there is an expanded discussion of support points of convex sets, and a new section on subgradients of convex functions. There is much more material on the special properties of convex sets...

Over the last fifty years advanced mathematical tools have become an integral part in the development of modern economic theory. Economists continue to invoke sophisticated mathematical techniques and ideas in order to understand complex economic and social problems. In the last ten years the theory of Riesz spaces (vector lattices) has been successfully applied to economic theory. By now it is understood relatively well that the lattice structure of Riesz spaces can be employed to capture and interpret several economic notions. On April 16-20, 1990, a small conference on Riesz Spaces,...