This compact and original exposition of optimal control theory and applications is designed for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in economics. It presents a new elementary yet rigorous proof of the maximum principle and a new way of applying the principle that will enable students to solve any one-dimensional problem routinely. Its unified framework illuminates many famous economic examples and models.

About the Author

Martin Weitzman is Professor of Economics, Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction Part I. Introduction to the Maximum Principle 1. The Calculus of Variations and the Stationary Rate of Return on Capital 2. The Prototype-Economic Control Problem 3. The Maximum Principle in One Dimension 4. Applications of the Maximum Principle in One Dimension Part II. Comprehensive Accounting and the Maximum Principle 5. Optimal Multisector Growth and Dynamic Competitive Equilibrium 6. The Pure Theory of Perfectly Complete National Income Accounting 7. The Stochastic Wealth and Income Version of the Maximum Principle References Index

Reviews

Martin Weitzman has written an innovative and important new book on dynamic optimization--in particular, the Maximum Principle of optimal control theory--and its application to economics. It is an excellent textbook on optimal control theory, but it is much more than that. It explains how much of capital theory can be formulated in terms of a prototype optimal control problem, and it shows how, in the context of a multisector growth model, the Maximum Principle can be used to obtain a comprehensive measure of national income. Thus, this book will appeal to several different audiences: graduate students in economics, practicing economists with an interest in capital theory, and environmental economists...Weitzman deserves considerable applause for this clear and elegant book. -- Robert S. Pindyck Journal of Economic Literature 20050301