This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations.(April 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Economists use the term representative agent to refer to the typical decision-maker of a certain type (for example, the typical consumer, or the typical firm).
More technically, an economic model is said to have a representative agent if all agents of the same type are identical. Also, economists sometimes say a model has a representative agent when agents differ, but act in such a way that the sum of their choices is mathematically equivalent to the decision of one individual or many identical individuals. This occurs, for example, when preferences are Gorman aggregable. A model that contains many different agents whose choices cannot be aggregated in this way is called a heterogeneous agent model.
The notion of the representative agent can be traced back to the late 19th century. Francis Edgeworth (1881) used the term "representative particular", while Alfred Marshall (1890) introduced a "representative firm" in his Principles of Economics. However, after Robert Lucas, Jr.'s critique of econometric policy evaluation spurred the development of microfoundations for macroeconomics, the notion of the representative agent became more prominent and more controversial. Many macroeconomic models today are characterized by an explicitly stated optimization problem of the representative agent, which may be either a consumer or a producer (or, frequently, both types of representative agents are present). The derived individual demand or supply curves are then used as the corresponding aggregate demand or supply curves. Since it has been shown that the commonly used demand functions do not aggregate to representative agents, the implications of representative agents models need not, and are unlikely to, hold for individual consumers.[1]
^Jackson, Matthew O. and Yariv, Leeat, "The Non-Existence of Representative Agents" (September 7, 2017). SSRN 2684776. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2684776.
and 23 Related for: Representative agent information
Economists use the term representativeagent to refer to the typical decision-maker of a certain type (for example, the typical consumer, or the typical...
in a legal action Shipping agent, a person responsible for handling shipments and cargo Sports agent, a legal representative for professional sports figures...
by means of a representativeagent. Depending on the application, individual agents can be aggregated to or represented by a single agent. For example...
A business agent may refer to: A business manager Business agent (labor), a representative of a labor union local (North America) This disambiguation...
A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment...
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical use Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal...
Agent Smith (later simply Smith) is a fictional character and the main antagonist of The Matrix franchise. The character was primarily portrayed by Hugo...
isolation of fuel. No agents currently use this as the primary means of fire suppression. Reduction of heat. Representativeagents: Clean agent FS 49 C2 (NAF...
Political Agent or political agent may refer to: Political Resident, a representative with consular duties and political contacts with local chiefs Political...
A colonial agent was the official representative of a British colony based in London during the British Empire. The role evolved during the seventeenth...
say, about behavior of an individual agent as described in general microeconomic theory (see Representativeagent, heterogeneity in economics). The second...
In United States business law, a registered agent (also known as a resident agent, statutory agent, or agent for service of process) is a business or individual...
individual interacting strategies". Agent-based models depart further from the classical approach — the representativeagent, as outlined — in that they introduce...
therefore, trying to "aggregate" all these differences into one, single "representativeagent" is impossible. These assumptions are similar to the assumptions...
foreign agent under FARA. First, to be considered as a foreign agent, a legal or natural person must act in a capacity of an agent, representative, employee...
Authors' Representatives (AAR), but according to Writer's Market listings, many agents in the United States are. To qualify for AAR membership, agents must...
of the macroeconomy. In terms of solutions, DSGE modelling with representativeagents has been the most prevalent among literatures. This approach "makes...
all times. New classical economics has also pioneered the use of representativeagent models. Such models have received severe neoclassical criticism,...
according to the economic agent's characteristics, models can be classified as rational agent models, representativeagent models etc. Stochastic models...
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. The federal...
A process agent or process server is a representative upon whom court papers may be served. In the US, the role is generally a requirement of US State...
general agent is an agent, i.e., representative of another, who has a mandate of general nature. In the Niger Rivers District the only senior agent, who...
equilibrium, and allow for heterogeneity, relaxing the idea of a representativeagent. Sometimes, topics from heterodox economics are introduced. Econometrics...