Generalized goal programming and variational inequalities

In this paper the authors present a generalization of goal programming through the theory of variational inequalities. The theoretical framework is established in the context of a new competitive economic model with negative externalities. In particular, equivalence between the economic conditions in the presence of goals and a variational inequality problem is derived, and the qualitative properties of existence and uniqueness examined. This work can serve as the foundation for the development of algorithms for the computation of generalized goal programs as well as suggest new goal structures.