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This book offers insight into the current developments in mathematical economics. The book is intended for a broad audience and technicalities are kept to a minimum. The issues addressed include general equilibrium, price competition, auctions, environmental policy, networks, dynamic (in)stability and bounded rationality. Moreover, the book contains a survey and appraisal of the work of Claus Weddepohl, to whom the volume is dedicated. In his academic career, Claus Weddepohl made important contributions to the development of mathematical economics. He did so in his own writings on general equilibrium theory, the theory of markets and on economic dynamics. He was also a stimulating teacher and inspired the scientific research of many of his colleagues

We empirically investigate the responsiveness of international trade to the stringency of environmental regulation. Stringent environmental regulation may impair the export competitiveness of 'dirty' domestic industries, and as a result, 'pollution havens' emerge in countries where environmental regulation is 'over-lax.' We examine the impact of pollution abatement and control costs on net exports in order to grasp this phenomenon. Theoretically, our analysis is related to a general equilibrium model of trade and pollution nesting the pollution haven motive for trade with the factor endowment motive. We analyze data on two-digit ISIC manufacturing industries during the period 1977–1992 in Germany, the Netherlands and the US, and show that trade patterns in 'dirty' commodities are jointly determined by relative factor endowments and environmental stringency differentials.

Is there a case to be made for preferential treatment of the exposed sector in an economy when compliance to an aggregate emissions constraint induced by an international environmental agreement is mandatory? This question is being debated in many countries, including The Netherlands, in the context of the implementation of the Kyoto protocol. We address this issue in a general equilibrium framework in this paper, and theoretically cover several market structures, including perfect competition, oligopoly and the large country case. Our main finding is that in many circumstances preferential treatment is not warranted from the point of view of maximizing social welfare.