The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics

In the field of economics, perhaps the most important break with the past—one that leaves open huge areas for future work—lies in the economics of information. It is now recognized that information is imperfect, obtaining information can be costly, there are important asymmetries of information, and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Quarterly journal of economics 2000-11, Vol.115 (4), p.1441-1478
Main Author: Stiglitz, Joseph E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Applications
Business structures
Capital markets
Corporate governance
Economic models
Economic systems
Economic theory
Economics
Financial investments
Information
Information economics
Information economy
Information management
Market equilibrium
Moral hazard
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the field of economics, perhaps the most important break with the past—one that leaves open huge areas for future work—lies in the economics of information. It is now recognized that information is imperfect, obtaining information can be costly, there are important asymmetries of information, and the extent of information asymmetries is affected by actions of firms and individuals. This recognition deeply affects the understanding of wisdom inherited from the past, such as the fundamental welfare theorem and some of the basic characterization of a market economy, and provides explanations of economic and social phenomena that otherwise would be hard to understand.
ISSN:0033-5533
1531-4650
DOI:10.1162/003355300555015