In a 2 persons 2 goods exchange economy with endowments, if there exists
Mutually beneficial trade = Pareto improvement = Marginal condition (MRSa=MRSb) does not hold
Then 2 person will trade until that
No mutally beneficial trade = Pareto efficient = Marginal condition (MRSa=MRSb) holds
The amount of good 1 traded and good 2 traded will determine the relative PRICE!
p1/p2 = (amount of good 2 traded)/(amount of good 1 traded)
In order to get the absolute PRICE, choose a numeraire
Set p2 = n
p1 = n * (amount of good 2 traded)/(amount of good 1 traded)
Therefore price is determined by
1.Utility function of the 2 persons
2.Endowment 2 persons get
这是静态均衡分析,静态均衡分析只讨论均衡时的条件,不讨论向均衡移动的过程。如果你在以物换物的经济中,你的第一次交换可能会犯非理性的错误,但是如果重复下去,你的交换会趋向于达到均衡条件的交换,因为你会发现这样你的效用最高。相对价格不是外生而是内生决定的,因为初始的价格是随意决定的,整个模型只研究均衡价格,所以无论什么样初始价格,都会趋向于这个均衡价格,因为大家发现只有向均衡价格靠拢,才能提高彼此的效用。而交换行为的本身,就已经确定了相对价格。