The Yannelis-Prabhakar Theorem on Upper Semi-Continuous Selections in Paracompact Spaces: Extensions and Applications

Abstract: In a 1983 paper, Yannelis-Prabhakar rely on Michael's selection theorem to guarantee a continuous selection in the context of the existence of maximal elements and equilibria in abstract economies. In this tribute to Nicholas Yannelis, we root this paper in Chapter II of Yannelis' 1983 Rochester Ph.D. dissertation, and identify its pioneering application of the paracompactness condition to current and ongoing work of Yannelis and his co-authors, and to mathematical economics more generally. We move beyond the literature to provide a necessary and sufficient condition for upper semi-continuous local and global selections of correspondences, and to provide application to five domains of Yannelis' interests: Berge's maximum theorem, the Gale-Nikaido-Debreu lemma, the Gale-McKenzie survival assumption, Shafer's non-transitive setting, and the Anderson-Khan-Rashid approximate existence theorem. The last resonates with Chapter VI of the Yannelis' dissertation.