Optimal Economic Growth Models with Nonlinear Utility Functions

Abstract

We study a class of finite horizon optimal economic growth problems with nonlinear utility functions and linear production functions. By using a maximum principle in the optimal control theory and employing the special structure of the problems, we are able to explicitly describe the unique solution via input parameters. Economic interpretations of the obtained results and an open problem about the case where the total factor productivity falls into a bounded open interval defined by the growth rate of labor force, the real interest rate, and the exponent of the utility function are also expressed.