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Three essays on dynamic market-signaling equilibrium
Abstract
Information (or knowledge) is an essential aspect of any exchange and any economy; yet, a mutually acceptable definition of information (or knowledge) does not exist among economists. Even a modest survey of post-Keynesian, neo-Austrian, Marxist, and neoclassical literatures show the profession to be in disagreement. Various definitions of both information and knowledge have been and still are proposed, criticized, accepted, and rejected. An economist has many different definitions of information (and therefore knowledge) to consider. And because information is an essential aspect of any exchange and any economy, any economist should be aware that one's choice of definition, to a great extent, determines her subject of inquiry. What information and knowledge are, largely shape what economics is. Thus, my dissertation is my entry into the debate, "How should we define information and knowledge in economics?" Particularly I am concerned with how we define the information and knowledge processes. Therefore, my entry point is a neoclassical theory of the information process: Spence's market signaling theory. Within its three essays my dissertation (1) extends and strengthens the post-Keynesian, neo-Austrian, and Marxist critiques of the probabilistic definition of information (and knowledge), (2) extends the critiques of the equilibrium concept, (3) extends and strengthens the critiques of the statistical model of information process, (4) develops a new subjectivist model of knowledge as process, (5) contributes to discussions of adaptability and biological models of economic behavior, and (6) contributes to post-Keynesian, neo-Austrian, Marxist, and other discussions of economic methodology and "the individual."
Subject Area
Economics|Economic theory
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Denise Hilda, "Three essays on dynamic market-signaling equilibrium" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9408292.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9408292