The maximum theorem provides conditions for the continuity of an optimized function and the set of its maximizers with respect to its parameters. The statement was first proven by Claude Berge in 1959. The theorem is primarily used in mathematical economics and optimal control.

Statement of theorem

Maximum Theorem. Let X and \Theta be topological spaces, be a continuous function on the product, and be a compact-valued correspondence such that for all. Define the marginal function (or value function) by and the set of maximizers by If C is continuous (i.e. both upper and lower hemicontinuous) at \theta, then the value function f^* is continuous, and the set of maximizers C^* is upper-hemicontinuous with nonempty and compact values. As a consequence, the \sup may be replaced by \max.

Variants

The maximum theorem can be used for minimization by considering the function -f instead.

Interpretation

The theorem is typically interpreted as providing conditions for a parametric optimization problem to have continuous solutions with regard to the parameter. In this case, \Theta is the parameter space, f(x,\theta) is the function to be maximized, and C(\theta) gives the constraint set that f is maximized over. Then, f^(\theta) is the maximized value of the function and C^ is the set of points that maximize f. The result is that if the elements of an optimization problem are sufficiently continuous, then some, but not all, of that continuity is preserved in the solutions.

Proof

Throughout this proof we will use the term neighborhood to refer to an open set containing a particular point. We preface with a preliminary lemma, which is a general fact in the calculus of correspondences. Recall that a correspondence is closed if its graph is closed. Lemma. If are correspondences, A is upper hemicontinuous and compact-valued, and B is closed, then defined by is upper hemicontinuous. Let, and suppose G is an open set containing. If, then the result follows immediately. Otherwise, observe that for each we have, and since B is closed there is a neighborhood of (\theta, x) in which whenever. The collection of sets forms an open cover of the compact set A(\theta), which allows us to extract a finite subcover. By upper hemicontinuity, there is a neighborhood U_\theta of \theta such that. Then whenever, we have , and so. This completes the proof. \square The continuity of f^* in the maximum theorem is the result of combining two independent theorems together. Theorem 1. If f is upper semicontinuous and C is upper hemicontinuous, nonempty and compact-valued, then f^* is upper semicontinuous. Fix, and let be arbitrary. For each, there exists a neighborhood of (\theta, x) such that whenever , we have. The set of neighborhoods covers C(\theta), which is compact, so suffice. Furthermore, since C is upper hemicontinuous, there exists a neighborhood U' of \theta such that whenever it follows that. Let. Then for all, we have for each , as for some k. It follows that which was desired. \square Theorem 2. If f is lower semicontinuous and C is lower hemicontinuous, then f^* is lower semicontinuous. Fix, and let be arbitrary. By definition of f^, there exists such that. Now, since f is lower semicontinuous, there exists a neighborhood of (\theta, x) such that whenever we have. Observe that (in particular, ). Therefore, since C is lower hemicontinuous, there exists a neighborhood U_2 such that whenever there exists. Let. Then whenever there exists, which implies which was desired. \square Under the hypotheses of the Maximum theorem, f^ is continuous. It remains to verify that C^* is an upper hemicontinuous correspondence with compact values. Let. To see that C^(\theta) is nonempty, observe that the function by is continuous on the compact set C(\theta). The Extreme Value theorem implies that C^(\theta) is nonempty. In addition, since f_\theta is continuous, it follows that C^(\theta) a closed subset of the compact set C(\theta), which implies C^(\theta) is compact. Finally, let be defined by. Since f is a continuous function, D is a closed correspondence. Moreover, since, the preliminary Lemma implies that C^* is upper hemicontinuous. \square

Variants and generalizations

A natural generalization from the above results gives sufficient local conditions for f^* to be continuous and C^* to be nonempty, compact-valued, and upper semi-continuous. If in addition to the conditions above, f is quasiconcave in x for each \theta and C is convex-valued, then C^* is also convex-valued. If f is strictly quasiconcave in x for each \theta and C is convex-valued, then C^* is single-valued, and thus is a continuous function rather than a correspondence. If f is concave and C has a convex graph, then f^* is concave and C^* is convex-valued. Similarly to above, if f is strictly concave, then C^* is a continuous function. It is also possible to generalize Berge's theorem to non-compact correspondences if the objective function is K-inf-compact.

Examples

Consider a utility maximization problem where a consumer makes a choice from their budget set. Translating from the notation above to the standard consumer theory notation, Then, Proofs in general equilibrium theory often apply the Brouwer or Kakutani fixed-point theorems to the consumer's demand, which require compactness and continuity, and the maximum theorem provides the sufficient conditions to do so.