Walrasian equilibrium behavior in nature

Ted Loch-Temzelides ()
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Ted Loch-Temzelides: Department of Economics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Ted LOCH TEMZELIDES

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, vol. 118, issue 27, e2020961118

Abstract: The interaction between land plants and mycorrhizal fungi (MF) forms perhaps the world’s most prevalent biological market. Most plants participate in such markets, in which MF collect nutrients from the soil and trade them with host plants in exchange for carbon. In a recent study, M. D. Whiteside et al. [Curr. Biol. 29, 2043–2050.e8 (2019)] conducted experiments that allowed them to quantify the behavior of arbuscular MF when trading phosphorus with their host roots. Their experimental techniques enabled the researchers to infer the quantities traded under multiple scenarios involving different amounts of phosphorus resources initially held by different MF patches. We use these observations to confirm a revealed preference hypothesis, which characterizes behavior in Walrasian equilibrium, a centerpiece of general economic equilibrium theory.

Keywords: Walrasian behavior; biological markets; revealed preference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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