Doable General Equilibrium Models: Comments on Three Papers Presented to the AAEA Summer Meetings 1986

Abstract

Adelman, I., and S. Robinson. Application of General Equilibrium Models to Analyze U.S. Agriculture. Clarets, R.L., and J. A. Roumasset. Comparative Equilibrium Models and Development Policy Analysis: Problems, Pitfalls, and Challenges. Derpanopoulos, J. Optimal Control of General Equilibrium Models. The three papers listed above are different yet have a common theme: the application of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling in agricultural policy analysis. Adelman and Robinson emphasize the agricultural sector in a social accounting matrix (SAM) for the United States. Derpanopoulos provides an optimal control formulation for CGE-like models. It is interesting and telling that the papers, although advocating the CGE approach, are about models only partially incorporating the associated concepts (Scarf 1983). After some general comments on CGE modeling, brief observations are offered on the three papers.