Agent - in Economics

In Economics

  • Agent (economics), actor and decision maker in a model
    • Homo economicus, concept in some economic theories of humans as rational and broadly self-interested actors
    • As discussed by economists as the principal–agent problem, agent means anyone supposed to act in the interests of the principal, especially insofar as the actions of the agent cannot be completely monitored by the principal. In this sense agent includes such diverse and common roles as auto mechanic, a doctor, a lawyer, an investment advisor, any fiduciary, a contractor, any employee (from the point of view of the employer), and a political representative in a democracy.
  • Agent-based computational economics, computational study of economic processes modeled as dynamic systems of interacting agents
  • Rational agent, entity which has clear preferences, models uncertainty via expected values, and always chooses to perform the action that results in the optimal outcome for itself from among all feasible actions
  • Representative agent, refers to the typical decision-maker of a certain type

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Famous quotes containing the word economics:

    “The animals that depend on instinct have an inherent knowledge of the laws of economics and of how to apply them; Man, with his powers of reason, has reduced economics to the level of a farce which is at once funnier and more tragic than Tobacco Road.”
    —James Thurber (1894–1961)

    “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
    —Anonymous.

    An axiom from economics popular in the 1960s, the words have no known source, though have been dated to the 1840s, when they were used in saloons where snacks were offered to customers. Ascribed to an Italian immigrant outside Grand Central Station, New York, in Alistair Cooke’s America (epilogue, 1973)