Böcker av Yasuhiro Sakai

This book critically discusses the historical backgrounds and new developments of the theories of games, decisions, and markets, with many possible applications to social and economic problems. Consisting of three connected parts, the book sheds new light on the role of merchants in the market economy under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Part I begins with the question of why and how John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern did joint work in game theory, namely, the theoretical study of strategic interactions among several decision makers. The duel between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty in Conan Doyle's famous detective story is recalled as a great inducement to Neumann and Morgenstern to invent zero-sum, two-person games. More general non-zero-sum games and associated Nash solutions are then discussed in relation to the generation-gap problem between a young couple and an elderly couple. Part II explores a set of very fundamental problems of individual decision making. Thetwo famous axioms of revealed preference ¿ Samuelson's weak axiom and Houthakker's axiom ¿ are skillfully connected and empirically reevaluated by the introduction of certain regularity conditions. The revealed preference approach is then extended from the original commodity space to the dual price space. Such dual treatment in microeconomics is further applied to the theory of cost and production, with the decomposition of the total factor price effect into the substitution and scale effects. Part III turns the reader¿s attention to the interdependence of several markets. The almost forgotten Hicks¿Morishima approach is newly revived with graphical illustrations of traded goods. The well-known Jones¿Kemp approach to international trade is boldly expanded into the world of risk and uncertainty. Some striking results in comparative static analysis are derived, with favorable implications for the real world.

The purpose of this book is to discuss the relationship between information and distribution, with special reference to the role of the merchant in a market economy under conditions of risk and uncertainty. By working with simple models of the market economy and conducting a sequence of comparative analyses, the authors shed new light on an important yet rather neglected area in economics. In a historical perspective, the merchants of Ohmi, the former name of Shiga Prefecture in western Japan, are known to have put great faith in the principles of Sampo Yoshi or the all-around advantages of trading. It is hoped that the results presented in this book will provide some solid ground for such an old principle that can be seen in a new light. Applications to regional and many related problems are also discussed here. A distribution system is broadly defined as the systematic mechanisms and structures that regulate business operations, and its function is to maximize corporate value. Some of the following functions have previously been identified as distinguishing features of the Japanese distribution system compared with distribution systems in Europe and the United States: not only transactions, transportation, and storage, but also information, risk-bearing functions, and other characteristics. This book provides an overview of the distribution system in Japan, including changes that its practice have undergone and its current state; identifies current problems; and considers how these problems should be addressed.

There are few books that systematically discuss Keynes and Knight, although there are remarkable comparisons between Keynes's concept of probability and uncertainty and Knight's distinction between a measurable risk and a non-measurable uncertainty.

The purpose of this book is to discuss the relationship between information and distribution, with special reference to the role of the merchant in a market economy under conditions of risk and uncertainty.