Karl Shell has assembled here fifteen essays on the theory of optimal economic growth. Most of the essays are elaborations of or extensions to Frank P. Ramsey's original contribution to this subject. The calculus of variations, particularly the maximum principle of Pontryagin is the most frequently used mathematical technique.
Among the topics treated are optimal accumulation with (exogenous and endogenous) technical change; optimal accumulation, borrowing, and international trade; optimal accumulation and interregional transportation; optimal growth in the labor-surplus economy; optimal growth and the choice of technique; and individual saving and efficiency in intertemporal programs of accumulation. A bibliography on optimal economic growth theory is included.
Essays on the Theory of optimal Economic Growth will be of direct interest to students of economic theory, planning and development, growth theory, mathematical economics, and macroeconomics. As an excursion into neighboring territory, the essays are of interest as well to researchers and students in fields such as control theory, mathematical programming, and the calculus of variations, where they may serve as illustrative applications of the more general mathematical principles.
Contributors
George A. Akerlof, Pranab K. Bardhan, Michael Bruno, Nicholas G. Carter, David Cass, Elizabeth S. Chase, Mrinal Datta-Chaudhuri, Stephen A. Marglin, William D. Nordhaus, Harl E. Ryder, Jr., Paul A. Samuelson, Karl Shell, Eytan Sheshinski, Menahem E. Yaari
