Scarcity and Efficiency

Mikuláš Luptáčik () and Klaus Prettner
Additional contact information
Mikuláš Luptáčik: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics

Chapter 1 in Mathematical Optimization and Economic Analysis, 2026, pp 3-29 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter introduces the core economic challenge of scarcity and the associated principle of efficiency in the use of scarce resources. Drawing on foundational definitions of economics by Robbins and others, it explores how limited resources necessitate optimal decision-making. The chapter presents mathematical programming as a tool to analyze economic behavior under resource constraints, laying the groundwork for various models relevant to households, firms, and policy contexts. By defining objective functions, feasible sets, and decision variables, the chapter establishes a general optimization framework that guides the rest of the book. The final part of the chapter provides a classification of optimization problems distinguishing between static optimization (linear and nonlinear programming, convex and nonconvex programming) and dynamic optimization (in continuous time and in discrete time).

Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:spochp:978-1-0716-5076-9_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9781071650769

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-5076-9_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Optimization and Its Applications from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().