expression, one of the most significant gains that it has achieved.

To that effect,
axiomatization
does more than making assumptions and conclusions explicit and exposing the
deductions linking them. The very definition of an economic concept is usually marred by
a substantial margin of ambiguity. An axiomatized theory substitutes for that ambiguous
concept a mathematical object that is subjected to definite rules of reasoning. Thus an
axiomatic theorist succeeds in communicating the meaning he intends to give to a
primitive
concept because of the completely specified formal context in which he operates. The
more
developed this context is, the richer it is in theorems and in other primitive concepts

xxviii Table of notation

Y j firm j ’s technology set (may be unbounded; Chapters 15 to 18 and 24)
Y aggregate (possibly unbounded) technology set, sum of Yj s
Y˜
j firm j ’s artificially bounded technology set; intersection of Yj with a
closed ball of radius c (Chapters 15 to 18 and 24)
Y˜ aggregate artificially bounded technology set; sum ofY˜
j s (Chapters 15 to
18 and 24)
Z(p) excess demand function (or correspondence – Chapter 24) of an
unbounded economy (Chapters 15 to 18 and 24)
˜Z
(p) excess demand function (or correspondence – Chapter 24) of an economy
subject to exogenous or artificial bounds on demand and supply functions
and correspondences