The journal Econometrica is the locus of some of the most important and advanced contributions to modern economics, and a new series of books has been established the better to preserve and disseminate the cream of these contributions. Each volume presents a selection of articles covering a broad aspect of the field. This second volume in the series closely follows publication of the first, Selected Readings in Econometrics from Econometrica. Joseph E. Stiglitz, Professor of Economics at Yale University, is General Editor of the series.
The editor of the present volume is Professor of Economics at Harvard University and former President of the Econometric Society. He has chosen the 22 articles reprinted here in such a way as to point up the general utility of economic theory and the widely distributed range of specific problems that can be analyzed and clarified with its application. Among the topics covered by these selected readings are the distribution of national income, entrepreneurial and consumer demand theories, the stability of equilibrium (including competitive equilibrium), the bargaining problem, resource utilization, the nature of the expectation and planning horizon, utility discrimination, social welfare functions, separable utility and aggregation, risk aversion, and two-level planning.
The contributors are M. Kalecki; A. Wald; Louis M. Court; Paul A. Samuelsom; René Roy; Wassily Leontief; George B. Dantzig; John F. Nash, jr; Gerald Debreu; Franco Modigliani and Franz E. Hohm; N. Boiteux; R. Duncan Luce, Julian H. Blau; Kenneth J. Arrow, H. D. Block, and Leonid Hurwicz; W. M. Gorman; Lionel W. McKenzie; Frank H. Hahn and Takashi Negishi; Robert J. Aumann; Tjalling C. Koopmans, Peter A. Diamond, and Richard E. Williamson; John W. Pratt; and J. Jornai and Th. Lipták.
Two further volumes in the series are planned, and it is expected that these will bring it to completion. One will be a selection of readings on macroeconomics and capital theory, and the other will collect significant survey articles covering various economic areas.
