The Econometric SocietyEdited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262
Econometrica: Sep, 1991, Volume 59, Issue 5
https://doi.org/0012-9682(199109)59:5<1395:SBAANF>2.0.CO;2-B
p. 1395-1424
Andrew McLennan, Hugo Sonnenschein
The following characterization of Walrasian allocations is proved: an allocation for an exchange economy with $C^1$ preferences is Walrasian if there is a set of net trades that (i) contains all sums of elements of itself, (ii) contains the negation of any net trade that would improve some agent in the final position, and (iii) is such that the bundles in the allocation are weakly preferred to those obtainable from the initial endowments by means of the given set of net trades. These conditions are similar to ones studied by Schmeidler and Vind (1972) and Vind (1978), but here they are thought of as characterizing the set of net trades available in steady state equilibria of market games like those studied by Douglas Gale (1984, 1985, 1986a, 1986b, and 1986c). The characterization result is used as a key step in the proof of results like Gale's: the allocations induced by steady state equilibria are Walrasian for the economy given by the (constant) flow of new agents into the market. Our approach generalizes the one followed in Gale (1986c) and allows us to dispense with assumptions made in previous treatments. For example Gale's (1986a) assumption of dispersed characteristics is dropped. We also demonstrate that such a result depends on the assumption that agents cannot observe the past behavior of agents with whom they trade.
March 5, 2024
The terms of the Editors of the Econometric Society's three journals end June 30, 2025. We are pleased to announce the incoming Editors and to thank the outgoing Editors for their excellent and continuing service.
Econometrica: Since 2019, Guido Imbens has served as the 14th Editor of Econometrica. On July 1, 2025, Marina Halac will become the Editor.
Quantitative Economics: Stéphane Bonhomme has been the Editor of Quantitative Economics since 2021. His successor will be Bernard Salanié.
Theoretical Economics: The Editor of Theoretical Economics since 2021 has been Simon Board. Taking over for him in July 2025 will be Federico Echenique.
Guido, Stéphane, and Simon have been outstanding Editors. We are grateful to them for the work they have done and will continue to do, and we look forward to further congratulating them next year. We believe Marina, Bernard, and Federico will be outstanding successors and we thank them in advance for their service.
Finally, we are grateful to Larry Samuelson for chairing all three search committees, and we thank the search committee members for their hard and fruitful work:
Econometrica: Christian Dustmann, Lars Hansen, Alessandro Lizzeri, George Mailath, Ariel Pakes, Helene Rey, and Elie Tamer.
QE: Kate Ho, Michael Keane, Felix Kubler, Whitney Newey, and Frank Schorfheide.
TE: Jeff Ely, Johannes Horner, Gilat Levy, Meg Meyer, and Ran Spiegler.
