Ratio-conjugation tool and its application in linear optimization models†

The ratio-conjugation-tool (RC) is constructed systematically, and its applicability for analysis of economic models is demonstrated. One of the main results establishes a general formula for RC of aggregative function. This tool is applied to the analysis of linear economic dynamics models of Neumann–Gale type which can be solved by a dynamic programming method: for each direct problem we construct the corresponding dual RC-problem. Moreover, we consider three examples of the most important economic dynamics models and look at these now from a unified general position.     

Monotonicity of certain integrals involving gamma distributions and their applications in multiple comparisons

Barlow and Gupta (1969) and Alam (1970) studied the monotonicity of two integrals, involving gamma distributions, that arise in certain ranking and selection problems. In this paper, we shall unify their results by studying the monotonicity of two generalized versions of integrals considered by them. We will also provide applications of derived results in study of certain multiple comparison procedures.     

Feasibility-Solvability Theorem for a Generalized System

In this paper, we consider a generalized system in the framework of the formulation proposed by Blum and Oettli. The concepts of feasibility and strict feasibility are introduced for a generalized system and a feasibility-solvability theorem is obtained. This work was supported by the Foundation for Young Teacher in Sichuan University (07069), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10826064, 10671135) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20060610005). The authors thank Professor L.D. Muu (Hanoi) and the referee for valuable comments and suggestions which lead to improvements of this paper.     

A note on iterative roots of PM functions

In this paper we study iterative roots of PM functions, a special class of non-monotone functions. Problem 2 in [W. Zhang, PM functions, their characteristic intervals and iterative roots, Ann. Polon. Math. LXV (1997) 119-128] is solved partly and Theorem 4 in that paper is generalized.     

A monotonicity property of the composition of regularized and inverted-regularized gamma functions with applications

The gamma function and its various modifications such as the (upper) incomplete, regularized and inverted-regularized incomplete gamma functions are of importance in both theory and applications. In this note we observe an ‘if and only if ’ relationship between a certain axiom of insurance risk management and a monotonicity property of the composition of regularized and inverted-regularized incomplete gamma functions, assuming that the risks follow gamma distributions. We derive the monotonicity property by utilizing the above noted relationship and a probabilistic technique. The aforementioned insurance axiom, called consistent no-undercut, is explained in detail and related to several techniques of analysis.     

Monotonicity and the Aumann–Shapley cost-sharing method in the discrete case

We give an axiomatization of the Aumann–Shapley cost-sharing method in the discrete case by means of monotonicity and no merging or splitting (Sprumont, 2005). Monotonicity has not yet been employed to characterize this method in such a case, by contrast with the case in which goods are perfectly divisible, for which Monderer and Neyman (1988) and Young (1985b) characterize the Aumann–Shapley price mechanism.     

Global Approximation of Solutions of Time-Dependent Variational Inequalities

We consider a class of parametric variational inequalities where both the operator and the convex set depend on time. This kind of variational inequalities are useful to model many time dependent equilibrium problems. We study the Lipschitz continuity of the solutions with respect to the time parameter and construct approximations for them which minimize the average worst case error. Some improved estimates of the Lipschitz constant for this class of problems are given. In order to illustrate our procedure, we study a classical network equilibrium problem.     

Monotone and maximal monotone affine subspaces

Affine monotone and maximal monotone subspaces are characterized.     

An improvement on the positivity results for 2-stage explicit Runge-Kutta methods

In this paper, we investigate the positivity property for a class of 2-stage explicit Runge-Kutta (RK2) methods of order two when applied to the numerical solution of special nonlinear initial value problems (IVPs) for ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We also pay particular attention to monotonicity property. We obtain new results for positivity which are important in practical applications. We provide some numerical examples to illustrate our results.