Society has developed so that it accommodates the needs of intertwined
people, but a question arises as to which people have been accommodated.
Has everyone been taken care of in an equal manner? If not, who has
fallen into the gap between the institutions that are supposed to
accommodate them? This book is a study of these issues of economy and
disability using game theory, which has provided a means of analyzing
various social phenomena. Part I provides actual cases related to
economy and disability, with the stories based on interviews by the
author. Part II is geared toward a game theoretic analysis. This book
explains disability-related issues by game theory and innovates that
theory by deeply contemplating the issues.
It is not common that first-rate theorists manage to make their research
relevant and applicable to the most pressing problems our society faces
these days. This is the remarkable achievement of this book. Akihiko
Matsui, an internationally recognized leader in economic theory,
succeeds in bringing profound game theoretical insights to the questions
of disability, the social norms relating to it, and the ethical and
economic problems they raise. The book is a tour de force, brilliantly
combining economic and sociology, mathematics and philosophy, to provide
us a fresh look at the way we run modern societies.
Itzahk Gilboa, Professor, Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel-Aviv
University and Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences, HEC, Paris
The present world faces a broad range of societal problems such as
discrimination against minorities and conflicts between groups. The
market mechanism may solve some of these dilemmas, but many others
remain. This book targets various societal problems and provides game
theoretical approaches to them, stressing the importance of social
institutions including the market system and individual interactive
attitudes to society. Aki Matsui's splendid Economy and Disability is
indispensable for students and scholars interested in social science,
particularly in economic theory, and gives a better understanding of
these phenomena and their potential cures.
Mamoru Kaneko, Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Economics,
Waseda University
In this book, Aki Matsui is revealed to be a fully-fledged humanist in
the guise of a game theoretician. He beautifully presents
game-theoretical ideas while at the same time suggesting how society
should relate to the disabled. This unique combination makes Economy
and Disability--apart from anything else--a truly moving book.
Ariel Rubinstein, Professor of Economics, Eitan Berglas School of
Economics, Tel-Aviv University and Professor of Economics, New York
University
