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University of Hong Kong



ECON6036

Additional Note on the Kakutani Fixed Point Theorem.

[Please report any typos and shortcomings.]

Instead of showing a proof to the theorem, we here demonstrate by counterexample
that conditions in the theorem are tight. That is, whenever a single sufficient
condition is violated, we can always find a counterexample so that a fixed point does
not exist.

For all our counterexamples, we restrict ourselves to the case in which X=[0,1] or a
subset of it. In addition, we consider the following parameter values: 0<a<b<1,
0<a<c<d<1, and 0<e<f<b<1.
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(i) X is not compact
(a) Suppose X=R and F(x)={x+1}. Then X is convex and F(x) is non-empty and
convex for each x and has a closed graph. However, X is not bounded, and hence not
compact. There is no fixed point.
(b) Suppose X=[0,1) and F(x)={x}. Then X is convex and F(x) is non-empty and
convex for each x and has a closed graph on X=[0,1). However, X is not closed on R,
and hence not compact. There is no fixed point.

(ii) X is not convex.
Refer to Panel a of Figure ***, assume X=[0,a][b,1], and F(x) equals [c,d] if x[0,a]
and equals [e,f] if x[b,1] (see the graph of F as the shaded areas inclusive of
boundaries). Note that X is compact, and F(x) is non-empty and convex for each x X
and has a closed graph. However, X is not convex, and there is no a fixed point.

(iii) F(x) is empty at some x
Refer to Panel a of Figure ***, assume that X=[0,1] and F is defined the same as in
case (ii) except that now F(x)=f if x(a,b); the graph of F is depicted as the shaded
areas (including boundaries) in the panel. X is compact convex and F(x) is convex for
each x and F has a closed graph. However, F(x) is empty for x (b_1,a_1), and there
is no fixed point.

(iv) F(x) is not convex at some x
Refer to Panel b of Figure ***, assume X=[0,1], and F(x) equals [c,d] if x[0,x),
equals [e,f] if x(x,1], and equals [c,d][e,f] if x=x, where 0<x<1. The graph of F
is depicted as the shaded areas. X is compact convex, and F(x) is non-empty for each
x X and has a closed graph. However, F(x) is not convex, and there is no fixed
point.

(v) F(x) does not have a closed graph
Refer to Panel c of Figure ****, X=[0,1], and F(x) equals [c,d] if x[0,x] and equals
[e,f] if x(x,1]. The graph of F is depicted as shaded areas (excluding the left hand
side boundary of the lower rectangle) in the panel. X is compact convex, and F(x) is
non-empty and convex for each x. However, the graph of F is not closed.

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A few comments are in order here. First, it should be useful to note that Kakutanis
fixed point theorem is a generalization of the intermediate value theorem in
elementary calculus. Second, the property that F has a closed graph is also known as
the super-hemicontinuity of F in x.

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