This volume covers a large range of interesting topics from many areas of economics ranging from conceptual and methodological foundations of economic theory to theoretical and empirical demand analysis. It includes articles on the economics of the public sector, of network industries, and of imperfect competition; on general equilibrium analysis and game theory; and on experimental, monetary, and financial economics. Papers presenting original research are supplemented by stimulating surveys. They together offer a broad spectrum for professional economists and doctoral students alike. Among the authors are some of the world`s leading economists including two Nobel Laureates.

John Trout Rader III died on May 23, 1991 after a long bout with multiple sclerosis. At the time of his death he was Professor of Economics at Washington University in Saint Louis. He was born on August 23, 1938 and received his B. A. from the University of Texas in 1959 and his Ph. D. from Yale University in 1963. In 1965, after brief stints as assistant professor at the Universities of Missouri and illinois, he joined Washington University where he was promoted to Professor in In Saint Louis, he divided his energies between his two lifelong loves: his family 1970. (his wife Deanna and children Kathy, Wendy, David, and Sarah) and ECONOMICS. Already in the seventies, his long and painful illness started to interfere with his work. During his brief but productive career he succeeded in assembling an impressive record as a scholar: He wrote three books and more than thirty articles covering a remarkably broad range of topics. His two books on microeconomics and general equilibrium {1972a, 1972b)1 are research monographs rather than textbooks; they contain many ideas which anticipated lines of research his fellow economists took up only later. The topics in his articles range from consumer analysis (1963, 1973a, 1976c, 1976d, 1978a, 1979b), production theory (1968c, 1970a, 1974), equilibrium and welfare theory (1964, 1968a, 1970a, 1972c, 1972d, 1976b, 1976c, 1980), growth theory and dynamics (1965, 1975, 1985), international trade (1968b, 1971b, 1973b, 1978c, 1979a), and public choice (1973d, 1978b).

Back in the good old days on the fourth floor of the Altbau of Bonn's Ju ridicum, Werner Hildenbrand put an end to a debate about a festschrift in honor of an economist on the occasion of his turning 60 with a laconic: "Much too early." Remembering his position five years ago, we did not dare to think about one for him. But now he has turned 65. If consulted, he would most likely still answer: "Much too early." However, he has to take his official re tirement, and we believe that this is the right moment for such an endeavor. No doubt Werner Hildenbrand will not really retire. As professor emeritus, free from the constraints of a rigid teaching schedule and the burden of com mittee meetings, he will be able to indulge his passions. We expect him to pursue, with undiminished enthusiasm, his research, travel, golfing, the arts, and culinary pleasures - escaping real retirement."