My original intention in writing this book was to consider evolving mar­ ket systems and Hayekian criteria of efficiency (see von Hayek (1931, 1945) ), and to discover those formal structures which might possibly lie at the base of economic systems capable of evolution. Much work in this field had already been done by others (see, for example, Kirzner (1975) and Nelson/Winter (1982) ), and a consensus seems to have been reached that something like system theory must be the logical point of departure for evolutionary theory in economics. But most of the previous work in this area is purely intuitive, and though there is much talk in it of systems and system theory, a precise definition of the concept of a system in this context is nowhere to be found. I had hoped to be able to sketch a working definition of pricing and production systems in a few pages and then to go on to investigate their performance within the framework of modern stability analysis. It soon became clear, however, that difficult and complex problems arise from the very outset of such an endeavor. If, for example, one speaks of dynamic systems of pricing and production, it should be made clear just how these systems differ from those portrayed in standard price theory and why that theory is inadequate for such analysis.

Inhalt

O. Introduction.- 1. Time in the Economic Equations of Prices and Production.- 1.1. Production Equations.- 1.2. Price Equations.- 2. The System of Economic Quantity and Price Equations.- 2.1. Quantity Equations.- 2.1.1. Production without Durable Equipment.- 2.1.1.1. Production Equations.- 2.1.1.2. Observation Equations.- 2.1.1.3. Balanced Growth I: Accumulation of Intermediate Products.- 2.1.2. Production with Durable Capital Goods.- 2.1.2.1. Production Equations.- 2.1.2.2. Balanced Growth II: Accumulation of Durable Capital Goods.- 2.1.2.3. Observation Equations.- 2.1.3. Joint Production.- 2.1.3.1. Production Equations.- 2.1.3.2. Observation Equations.- 2.1.3.3. Balanced Growth III: Expansion of Process Intensities in von Neumann's Generalized Model.- 2.1.4. Summary Remarks on Quantity Equations.- 2.2. Price Equations.- 2.2.1. Price Formation without Durable Capital Goods.- 2.2.1.1. Price Equations.- 2.2.1.2. Observation Equations.- 2.2.1.3. Uniform Rate of Profit I: Accumulation of Circulating Capital.- 2.2.2. Price Formation with Durable Capital Goods.- 2.2.2.1. Price Equations.- 2.2.2.2. Observation Equations.- 2.2.2.3. Uniform Rate of Profit II: Accumulation of Fixed Capital.- 2.2.3. Price Formation with Joint Production.- 2.2.3.1. Price Equations.- 2.2.3.2. Observation Equations.- 2.2.3.3. Uniform Rate of Profit III: Accumulation of Capital in von Neumann's Generalized Model.- 2.2.4. Summary Remarks on Price Equations.- 2.3. Some Amplifications of the System.- 2.3.1. From Discrete Time to Continuous Time.- 2.3.2. A Linear Stock-Flow System.- 2.3.3. The Problem of Control I: Leaving the Steady State.- 3. Prices and Production in Economic Theory.- 3.0. Introduction.- 3.1. Simultaneous-Equations Systems.- 3.1.1. The Leontief System.- 3.1.2. The System of Walras.- 3.1.2.1. Production and Prices without Durable Capital Goods.- 3.1.2.1.1. Production Equations.- 3.1.2.1.2. Price Equations.- 3.1.2.1.3. Walras' Law.- 3.1.2.2. Production and Prices with Durable Capital Goods.- 3.1.2.2.1. Production Equations.- 3.1.2.2.2. Price Equations.- 3.1.3. The Cobb-Douglas Production Function.- 3.1.4. Summary Remarks on Simultaneous Models.- 3.2. Difference Equation Systems.- 3.2.1. The von Neumann Model.- 3.2.2. The System of Sraffa.- 3.2.2.1. Price Equations.- 3.2.2.2. Durable Capital Goods.- 3.2.3. The Reproduction Scheme of Marx.- 3.2.3.1. Marx's Original Equations.- 3.2.3.2. Input-Output Interpretation.- 3.2.3.3. Technical Progress and the Rate of Profit.- 3.2.4. Summary Remarks on Difference-Equation Models.- 3.3. Conclusion (The Problem of Control II): The Generalized Transformation Problem of Value Theory.- 3.3.1. Introduction.- 3.3.2. The Transformation Problem in General.- 3.3.3. The Marxian Transformation Problem.- 3.3.4. The Walrasian Transformation Problem.