ABSTRACT
In a model of demand dynamics, consumers are linked to each other both in the agent space and in the commodity space and are subject to viability constraints stipulating that only specific configurations of demand are possible. The viability of demand is re-established through both centralized and decentralized, social and learning coordination mechanisms. The framework leads to different results depending on the field of application. In market dynamics theory, the framework characterizes an a posteriori supply and demand law, where social mechanisms are market prices and learning mechanisms the endogenous adaptation of supply. In monetary regulation theory, coordination mechanisms are interest rates and agents' solvability is allowed through both micro and macro-monetary regulation. In a demand model with frustration, agents control their frustration using the representative frustration of society, and the decentralized learning mechanism leads to a selection of neighbors. In a model with consumer sub-groups, the demand regulation adds an identity-building process to lifestyles and mimetic behaviors to lifestyles.
Notes
*Article completed for the European project “Evolution equations for deterministic and stochastic system” while I was post-doctorant at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (Contract Number: HPRN-CT-2002-00). I thank Jean-Pierre Aubin, Jean Cartelier, Giuseppe Da Prato, Giovanni Dosi and Giorgio Fagiolo for enlightening comments.
†142 rue du Chevaleret, 75013 Pairs, France