Skip to main content
Log in

Problems of ruin and survival in economics: applications of limit theorems in probability

  • Published:
Sankhya B Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Commentary to this article was published on 24 October 2013

A Commentary to this article was published on 15 October 2013

Abstract

In this paper the focus is on characterizing and computing the probabilities of ruin in three mathematical models arising in economics. First, we examine a credit system in which small loans without collaterals are extended to a large number of costumers, and study the probability of collapse due to defaults. Next, we consider a Walrasian model of an exchange economy in which the endowments are random, and analyze the probability that at equilibrium prices an agent does not have the minimum income needed for survival. Finally, the problem of sustaining a constant consumption of a resource the stock of which is augmented by a random input is considered. The steady state of the resulting Markov process, the speed at which it is approached, and the possibility of exhaustion of the stock are examined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aghion, B.A. and Murdoch, J. (2007). The Economics of Microfinance. MIT Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amari, S.V. and Misra, R.B. (1997). Closed form expression for distribution of sum of exponential random variables. IEEE Trans. Reliab., 46, 519–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asmussen, S. (1998). Subexponential asymptotics for stochastic processes: extremal behavior, stationary distributions and first passage probabilities. Ann. Appl. Probab., 8, 354–374.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bacro, J.N., Daudin, J.J., Mercier, S. and Robin, S. (2002). Back to the local score in the logarithmic case: a direct and simple proof. Ann. Inst. Statist. Math., 54, 748–757.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bahadur, R. and Ranga Rao, R. (1960). On deviations of the sample mean. Ann. Math. Statist., 31, 1015–1027.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, R.N. and Majumdar, M. (1973). Random exchange economies. J. Econ. Theory, 6, 37–67.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, R.N. and Majumdar, M. (2001). On characterizing the probability of survival in a large competitive economy. Rev. Econ. Des., 6, 133–153.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, R.N. and Majumdar, M. (2007). Random Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, R.N. and Ranga Rao, R. (2010). Normal Approximation and Asymptotic Expansions. Classics in Applied Mathematics, vol. 64. SIAM, Philadelphia.

  • Bhattacharya, R.N. and Waymire, E.C. (2007). A Basic Course in Probability Theory. Universitext. Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, R.N., Majumdar, M. and Hashimzade, N. (2010). Limit theorems for monotone Markov processes. Sankhya, 72-A, pp. 170–190.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Blackwell, D. and Hodges, J.L. (1959). The probability in the extreme tail of a convolution. Ann. Math. Statist., 30, 1113–1120.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Chernoff, H. (1952). A measure of asymptotic efficiency for tests of a hypothesis based on the sum of observations. Ann. Math. Statist., 23, 493–507.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Durrett, R. (1999). Essentials of Stochastic Processes. Springer, New York.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Embrechts, P., Kluppelberg, C. and Mikosch, T. (1997). Modelling Extreme Events for Insurance and Finance. Springer, Berlin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Esseen, C.G. (1945). Fourier analysis of distribution functions. Acta. Math., 77, 1–125.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Feller, W. (1957). An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications, vol. 1. Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feller, W. (1971). An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications, vol. 2. Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, J.K. (1993). A Short History of Financial Euphoria. Penguin Viking, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghatak, M. and Guinnane, T.W. (1999). The economics of lending with joint liability. J. Dev. Econ., 60, 195–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hashimzade, N. (2006). Famines without shortages. Oxf. Econ. Pap., 58, 636–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath, D., Resnick, S. and Samorodnitsky, G. (1997). Patterns of buffer overflow in a class of queues with long memory in the input stream. Ann. Appl. Probab., 7, 1021–1057.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Iams, S. and Majumdar, M. (2010). Stochastic equilibrium: concepts and computations for Lindley processes. Int. J. Econ. Theory, 6, 47–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlin, S. and Altschul, S.F. (1990). Methods for assessing the statistical significance of molecular sequence features by using general scoring schemes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 87, 2264–2268.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Karlin, S. and Dembo, A. (1992). Limit distribution of maximal segmental score among Markov-dependent partial sums. Adv. Appl. Probab., 24, 113–140.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Karlin, S., Dembo, A. and Kawabata, T. (1990). Statistical composition of high-scoring segments from molecular sequences. Ann. Statist., 18, 571–581.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Lindley, D.V. (1952). The theory of queues with a single server. Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc., 48, 277–289.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Lund, R.B. and Tweedie, R.L. (1996). Geometric convergence rates of stochastically ordered Markov chains. Math. Oper. Res., 21, 182–194.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Majumdar, M. (2009). Equilibrium, Welfare, and Uncertainty: Beyond Arrow-Debreu. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, J. (1999). The microfinance promise. J. Econ. Lit., 37, 1569–1614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramasubramanian, S. (2009). Lectures on Insurance Models. Hindustan Book Agency, New Delhi.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Rotar, V. (2007). Actuarial Models: The Mathematics of Insurance. Chapman and Hall, Boca Raton, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1981a). Ingredients of famine analysis: availability and entitlements. Q. J. Econ., 95, 433–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1981b). Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serfling, R.J. (1980). Approximation Theorems of Mathematical Statistics. Wiley, New York.

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, F. (1956). A combinatorial lemma and its application to probability theory. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 82, 323–339.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rabi Bhattacharya.

Additional information

Research partially supported by NSF Grant DMS 1107053.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bhattacharya, R., Majumdar, M. & Lin, L. Problems of ruin and survival in economics: applications of limit theorems in probability. Sankhya B 75, 145–180 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13571-013-0068-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13571-013-0068-1

Keywords and phrases

AMS (2000) subject classification

Navigation