An Overlapping Generations Model Core Equivalence Theorem

Abstract

The classical Debreu-Scarf core equivalence theorem asserts that in an exchange economy with a finite number of agents art allocation (under certain conditions) is a Walrasian equilibrium if and only if it belongs to the core of every replica of the exchange economy. The pioneering work of P. Samuelson has shown that such a result fails to be true in exchange economies with a countable number of agents. This paper presents a Debreu-Scarf type core equivalence theorem for the overlapping generations (OLG) model. Specifically, the notion of a short-term core allocation for the overlapping generations model is introduced and it is shown that (under some appropriate conditions) an OLG model allocation is a Walrasian equilibrium if and only if it belongs to the short-term core of every replica of the OLG economy.