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In economics, an agent is an actor (more specifically, a decision maker) in a model of some aspect of the economy. Typically, every agent makes decisions by solving a well- or ill-defined optimization or choice problem. For example, buyers and sellers are two common types of agents in partial equilibrium models of a single market.
An agency cost is an economic concept that refers to the costs associated with the relationship between a "principal" (an organization, person or group of persons), and an "agent". The agent is given powers to make decisions on behalf of the principal. However, the two parties may have different incentives and the agent generally has more ...
In economic theory, the principal-agent approach (also called agency theory) is part of the field contract theory. [36] [37] In agency theory, it is typically assumed that complete contracts can be written, an assumption also made in mechanism design theory. Hence, there are no restrictions on the class of feasible contractual arrangements ...
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 ...
Firstly, the agent may be risk-averse, so there is a trade-off between providing the agent with incentives and insuring the agent. Secondly, the agent may be risk-neutral but wealth-constrained and so the agent cannot make a payment to the principal and there is a trade-off between providing incentives and minimizing the agent's limited ...
the preferences of the agent; the agent's information of its environment, which may come from past experiences; the actions, duties and obligations available to the agent; the estimated or actual benefits and the chances of success of the actions. In game theory and classical economics, it is often assumed that the actors, people, and firms are ...
Independent agents don’t have the backing of a large insurer in the same way captive agents do. This may mean having fewer easily accessible resources and being required to be more proactive in ...
Such a situation runs counter to neo-classical economic theory. The neo-classical market is instantaneous, forbidding the development of extended agent-principal (employee-manager) relationships, planning, and of trust. Coase concludes that “a firm is likely therefore to emerge in those cases where a very short-term contract would be ...