Stationary points and equilibria

Almost all existence results in mathematical economics and game theory rely on some type of fixed point theorem. However, in many cases it is much easier to apply an equivalent stationary point theorem. In this survey paper we show for various general equilibrium and game-theoretical models the usefulness of the stationary point approach to prove existence of equilibrium. We also consider path following methods to find a stationary point and illustrate such methods by an example. Finally, we discuss some refinements of stationary points and their application to solve the problem of equilibrium selection. © 2009 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel/Switzerland