IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejmac/v11y2019i4p140-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Monopoly Power and Endogenous Product Variety: Distortions and Remedies

Author

Listed:
  • Florin O. Bilbiie
  • Fabio Ghironi
  • Marc J. Melitz

Abstract

The inefficiencies related to endogenous product creation and variety under monopolistic competition are two-fold: one static—the misalignment between consumers and producers regarding the value of a new variety; and one dynamic—time variation in markups. When production factors (labor and physical capital) are elastic and traded in competitive markets, further distortions appear. Appropriate taxation schemes can restore optimality if they preserve entry incentives. Quantitatively, the welfare costs of each distortion by itself amounts to 2 to 5 percent of consumption. But their overall cost when jointly present is greatly magnified, and generates up to a 25 percent welfare loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2019. "Monopoly Power and Endogenous Product Variety: Distortions and Remedies," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 140-174, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:140-74
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20170303
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/mac.20170303
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/mac.20170303.ds
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Spence, 1976. "Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 43(2), pages 217-235.
    2. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Kiyotaki, Nobuhiro, 1987. "Monopolistic Competition and the Effects of Aggregate Demand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 647-666, September.
    3. Fabio Ghironi & Sanjay K. Chugh, 2010. "Optimal Fiscal Policy with Endogenous Product Variety," 2010 Meeting Papers 812, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hines, James Jr., 2002. "Taxation and economic efficiency," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 21, pages 1347-1421, Elsevier.
    5. Bilbiie, Florin O. & Fujiwara, Ippei & Ghironi, Fabio, 2014. "Optimal monetary policy with endogenous entry and product variety," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-20.
    6. Federico Etro & Andrea Colciago, 2010. "Endogenous Market Structures and the Business Cycle," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(549), pages 1201-1233, December.
    7. Benassy, Jean-Pascal, 1996. "Taste for variety and optimum production patterns in monopolistic competition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 41-47, July.
    8. Vivien Lewis & Roland Winkler, 2015. "Product Diversity, Demand Structures, And Optimal Taxation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(2), pages 979-1003, April.
    9. Opp, Marcus M. & Parlour, Christine A. & Walden, Johan, 2014. "Markup cycles, dynamic misallocation, and amplification," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 126-161.
    10. Etro, Federico & Rossi, Lorenza, 2015. "New-Keynesian Phillips curve with Bertrand competition and endogenous entry," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 318-340.
    11. Aubhik Khan & Robert G. King & Alexander L. Wolman, 2003. "Optimal Monetary Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(4), pages 825-860.
    12. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Endogenous Entry, Product Variety, and Business Cycles," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 304-345.
    13. Chamley, Christophe, 1986. "Optimal Taxation of Capital Income in General Equilibrium with Infinite Lives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 607-622, May.
    14. Cacciatore, Matteo & Fiori, Giuseppe & Ghironi, Fabio, 2016. "Market deregulation and optimal monetary policy in a monetary union," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 120-137.
    15. Melitz, Jacques, 1991. "Monetary Policy in France," CEPR Discussion Papers 509, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    17. Epifani, Paolo & Gancia, Gino, 2011. "Trade, markup heterogeneity and misallocations," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 1-13, January.
    18. Lewis, Vivien, 2013. "Optimal Monetary Policy And Firm Entry," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(8), pages 1687-1710, December.
    19. Bernardino Adão & Isabel Correia & Pedro Teles, 2003. "Gaps and Triangles," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(4), pages 699-713.
    20. Bergin, Paul R. & Corsetti, Giancarlo, 2008. "The extensive margin and monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 1222-1237, October.
    21. Dudley Cooke, 2016. "Optimal Monetary Policy with Endogenous Export Participation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 21, pages 72-88, July.
    22. Erceg, Christopher J. & Henderson, Dale W. & Levin, Andrew T., 2000. "Optimal monetary policy with staggered wage and price contracts," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 281-313, October.
    23. Paolo Bertoletti & Federico Etro, 2016. "Preferences, entry, and market structure," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 47(4), pages 792-821, November.
    24. Koeniger Winfried & Licandro Omar, 2006. "On the Use of Substitutability as a Measure of Competition," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-9, March.
    25. Kim, Jinill, 2004. "What determines aggregate returns to scale?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1577-1594, June.
    26. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2008. "Monetary Policy and Business Cycles with Endogenous Entry and Product Variety," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2007, Volume 22, pages 299-353, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Hopenhayn, Hugo A, 1992. "Entry, Exit, and Firm Dynamics in Long Run Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(5), pages 1127-1150, September.
    28. Feenstra, Robert C., 2003. "A homothetic utility function for monopolistic competition models, without constant price elasticity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 79-86, January.
    29. Kenneth L. Judd, 2002. "Capital-Income Taxation with Imperfect Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 417-421, May.
    30. Cacciatore, Matteo & Ghironi, Fabio, 2021. "Trade, unemployment, and monetary policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    31. Kenneth L. Judd, 1997. "The Optimal Tax Rate for Capital Income is Negative," NBER Working Papers 6004, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Faia, Ester, 2012. "Oligopolistic competition and optimal monetary policy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 1760-1774.
    33. A. P. Lerner, 1934. "The Concept of Monopoly and the Measurement of Monopoly Power," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 157-175.
    34. Faia, Ester, 2009. "Ramsey monetary policy with labor market frictions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 570-581, May.
    35. Ethier, Wilfred J, 1982. "National and International Returns to Scale in the Modern Theory of International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 389-405, June.
    36. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    37. N. Gregory Mankiw & Michael D. Whinston, 1986. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(1), pages 48-58, Spring.
    38. Daron Acemoglu & Kenneth Rogoff & Michael Woodford, 2009. "NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2008, Volume 23," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number acem08-1, March.
    39. Judd, Kenneth L, 1985. "On the Performance of Patents," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(3), pages 567-585, May.
    40. Etro, Federico, 2016. "The Ramsey model with monopolistic competition and general preferences," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 141-144.
    41. Paolo Bertoletti & Federico Etro, 2017. "Monopolistic Competition when Income Matters," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(603), pages 1217-1243, August.
    42. Judd, Kenneth L., 1985. "Redistributive taxation in a simple perfect foresight model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 59-83, October.
    43. Andrew B. Abel, 2007. "Optimal Capital Income Taxation," NBER Working Papers 13354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fabio Ghironi & Sanjay K. Chugh, 2010. "Optimal Fiscal Policy with Endogenous Product Variety," 2010 Meeting Papers 812, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Cacciatore, Matteo & Fiori, Giuseppe & Ghironi, Fabio, 2016. "Market deregulation and optimal monetary policy in a monetary union," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 120-137.
    3. Cacciatore, Matteo & Fiori, Giuseppe & Ghironi, Fabio, 2015. "The domestic and international effects of euro area market reforms," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 555-581.
    4. Fabio Ghironi, 2018. "Macro needs micro," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(1-2), pages 195-218.
    5. Federico Etro, 2018. "Macroeconomics with Endogenous Markups and Optimal Taxation," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(2), pages 378-406, October.
    6. Bilbiie, Florin O. & Fujiwara, Ippei & Ghironi, Fabio, 2014. "Optimal monetary policy with endogenous entry and product variety," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-20.
    7. Cacciatore, Matteo & Ghironi, Fabio, 2021. "Trade, unemployment, and monetary policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    8. Hamano, Masashige & Zanetti, Francesco, 2022. "Monetary policy, firm heterogeneity, and product variety," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Florin O. Bilbiie & Fabio Ghironi & Marc J. Melitz, 2012. "Endogenous Entry, Product Variety, and Business Cycles," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 304-345.
    10. Javier Coto-Martínez & Carlos Garriga & Fernando Sánchez-Losada, 2007. "Optimal Taxation with Imperfect Competition and Aggregate Returns to Specialization," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(6), pages 1269-1299, December.
    11. Colciago, Andrea & Silvestrini, Riccardo, 2022. "Monetary policy, productivity, and market concentration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    12. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and monopolistic competition," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 645-649.
    13. Lewis, Vivien, 2013. "Optimal Monetary Policy And Firm Entry," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(8), pages 1687-1710, December.
    14. Savagar, Anthony, 2021. "Measured productivity with endogenous markups and economic profits," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    15. Louis Kaplow, 2019. "Market Power and Income Taxation," NBER Working Papers 25578, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Hartwig, Benny & Lieberknecht, Philipp, 2020. "Monetary policy, firm exit and productivity," Discussion Papers 61/2020, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    17. Lewis, Vivien & Poilly, Céline, 2012. "Firm entry, markups and the monetary transmission mechanism," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 670-685.
    18. Pavlov, Oscar, 2016. "Can firm entry explain news-driven fluctuations?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 427-434.
    19. Etro, Federico & Rossi, Lorenza, 2015. "Optimal monetary policy under Calvo pricing with Bertrand competition," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 423-440.
    20. Masashige Hamano & Francesco Zanetti, 2017. "Endogenous Turnover and Macroeconomic Dynamics," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 26, pages 263-279, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:140-74. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.