DEBREU (Gérard).
Theory of Value. An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium.
Debreu’s ‘classic book’’, complete with an excellent example of the rare dust jacket, ‘which presents a rigorous yet succinct exposition of the theory of general economic equilibrium, follows a logical and structured direction. Having outlined in the opening chapter the mathematical concepts and results used in the rest of the book, Debreu then discusses the concepts of a commodity and prices, producer behaviour, consumer behaviour, equilibrium, the relationship between equilibrium and Pareto optimality, and uncertainty’ (Vane and Mulhearn, The Nobel Memorial Laureates in Economics, p. 135-136).
The work was published as Monograph 17 of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics at Yale University. ‘Debreu’s many offices and honours include the presidencies of the Econometric Society in 1971 and the American Economic Association in 1990; in 1976 was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour. In 1983, Debreu was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics ‘for having incorporated new analytical methods into economic theory and for his rigorous reformulation of the theory of general equilibrium’. Debreu is best known for his pioneering contributions in two main areas: the theory of general equilibrium and mathematical economics’ (ibid p. 135).
See Rubinstein, A History of the Theory of Investments, pp. 132-134.
