A theoretical analysis of markets with indivisible commodities: An approach from discrete mathematics

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13458
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 07010:Economic theory-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Yokote Koji 早稲田大学, 高等研究所, 講師(任期付) (50802344)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 非分割財市場 / 離散凸解析 / ゲーム理論 / マッチング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A primary role of economics is to deepen our understanding of the workings of markets and provide a guide for better organizing them. In this research, I theoretically investigated markets for indivisible goods. Here, an "indivisible good" is defined as a good that is consumed in either 0 or 1 unit. For example, in a job market, a worker typically has only one position; thus, job positions are an indivisible good.　Mathematically speaking, an indivisible good is formulated as a good that is traded in discrete units. Applying techniques in discrete mathematics to the analysis of markets, I established new theoretical results on the structure of market equilibria.

Free Research Field

ミクロ経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の意義として、政府が労働市場に介入する際にどのような方法が望ましいのについての理解を深めた点が挙げられる。例えば、障がいを持つ方が仕事を確保できるように、企業が障がい者の雇用に一定額の補助金を提供する状況を考える。このとき、どの程度の額の補助金が望ましいのか、という疑問が生じる。本研究では、いくつかの仮定を課した市場のモデルにおいて、適切な補助金の額を計算する具体的な方式を提供した。