This paper, which is based on the remarks offered during a plenary address at the May 1989 CORS/TIMS/ORSA meeting in Vancouver, discusses the analogy between economic institutions and algorithms for solving mathematical programming problems. The simplex method for solving linear programs can be interpreted as a search for market prices that equilibrate the demand for factors of production with their supply. A possible interpretation in terms of the internal organization of a large firm is offered for Lenstra's integer programming algorithm.
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Herbert E. Scarf (1990) studied this question.
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