Infinite-horizon competitive programs are optimal

For infinite-horizon optimal-growth problems the standard result in the literature says that a program is optimal if and only if associated with it is a sequence of present-value prices at which the program satisfies (i) a set of myopic "competitive conditions," and (ii) an asymptotic "transversality condition." The principal result of this paper points out the interesting and surprising fact that at least for a class of multisector models where the production side is described by a simple linear model, and there are some limiting primary factors, the competitive conditions alone characterize an optimal program.