This collection of essays brings together some articles on dynamic
optimization models that exhibit chaotic behavior. Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, and 9 appeared in a Symposium on Chaotic Dynamical Systems in
Economic Theory (Volume 4, Number 5, 1994). Also, Chapters 10,11, and 12
appeared in the Journal of Economic The- ory. We would like to thank the
authors, and Academic Press for permission to reprint. We are grateful
to Professor C.D. Aliprantis for suggesting the idea of a book
structured around the Economic Theory Symposium, and without the support
and patience of Dr. Mueller this project could not have been completed.
We would like to thank Ms. Amy Gowan who cheerfully per- formed the
arduous task of typing the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Xiao Qing
Yu, Tridip Ray and Malabika Majumdar for their help at various stages in
the preparation of the manuscript. For a course on dynamic optimization
addressed to students with a good background in economic theory and real
analysis, one can assign Chapter 2 as a partial introduction to the
basic tech- niques. Chapters 3 and 4 can be assigned to provide examples
of simple optmization models generating complicated behavior.