This article graphically illustrates the one-to-one duality mapping among the production function, the product supply equation, the derived factor demand equation, and the indirect profit function for the classical profit maximization problem. This pedagogical framework is then used to illustrate how empirical application of conventional duality theory can lead to distorted empirical results if...

We consider profit-maximization problems for combinatorial auctions with non-single minded valuation functions and limited supply. We obtain fairly general results that relate the approximability of the profit-maximization problem to that of the corresponding social-welfare-maximization (SWM) problem, which is the problem of finding an allocation (S1, . . . , Sn) satisfying the capacity constra...

This paper analyzes the problem of deriving predictions, regarding supply behavior of a competitive firm, from prior consistency postulates about input-output choices made by such a firm. It extends the literature by introducing a consistency postulate for firm choice, which is weaker than profit-maximization. This consistency postulate is nevertheless both necessary and sufficient for supply r...