ABSTRACT
It is generally agreed that a decentralized decision making system accrues certain benefits for the entire system as a whole. Following Koopman's exposition, for example, "decentralization utilizes incentives that are naturally operative in the market system" as well as providing an economy of information which in many situations is secured free of charge; that is, no loss of total profit or in satisfaction level results from decentralization.1 It is natural then to ask whether a price mechanism can be found which will reconcile the freedom of action of individual units with the balancing out of supply and demand in the long run — or, stated differently, for the optimization of the total system.
