The development of equilibrium existence theory

This paper presents a review of the literature on existence of competitive equilibrium, starting with Walras. Special attention is given to determination of the sources of notions employed in Debreu's Theory of Value a sketch of whose existence proof is included. Posterior generalizations and variations are briefly described; the outline is not intended to be exhaustive, but representative of the research trend. A chapter is devoted to the measure theoretic approach to equilibrium and core theory, in the belief that it has been enlightening for mathematical economics. In this chapter a generalization of the concept of a private ownership economy is proposed by introducing a measure space for the production sector; this type of economy appears as a natural extension of the Debreu notion