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Monopolistic competition, multiproduct firms and optimum product diversity

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Author Info
OTTAVIANO, Gianmarco
THISSE, Jacques-Franois

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Abstract

This paper tackles the issue of optimum product diversity in an imperfectly competitive market with small or large firms. First, it develops a quadratic utility model of monopolistic competition with horizontal product differentiation which avoids some of the main pitfalls of the S-D-S approach. Second, it extends the model to the case of multiproduct firms showing how product diversity is affected with respect to monopolistic competition. In particular, it is shown that monopolistic competition with single-product firms is the limiting case of oligopolistic competition with multiproduct firms when either varieties gets more and more differentiated or when the entry cost goes further and further down.

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Paper provided by Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) in its series CORE Discussion Papers with number 1999019.

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Date of creation: 01 Mar 1999
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Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:1999019

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Bonanno, Giacomo, 1988. "Oligopoly Equilibria When Firms Have Local Knowledge of Demand," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 29(1), pages 45-55, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  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 647-66, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Anderson, Simon P & de Palma, Andre, 1992. "Multiproduct Firms: A Nested Logit Approach," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(3), pages 261-76, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Hart, Oliver D, 1985. "Monopolistic Competition in the Spirit of Chamberlin: Special Results," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(380), pages 889-908, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Wolinsky, Asher, 1986. "True Monopolistic Competition as a Result of Imperfect Information," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 493-511, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Avinash Dixit, 1979. "A Model of Duopoly Suggesting a Theory of Entry Barriers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 20-32, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Spence, Michael, 1976. "Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 217-35, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Gary-Bobo, Robert J., 1989. "Cournot-Walras and locally consistent equilibria," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 10-32, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Meade, James E, 1974. "The Optimal Balance between Economies of Scale and Variety of Products: An Illustrative Model," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 41(164), pages 359-67, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Deneckere, Raymond J & Rothschild, Michael, 1992. "Monopolistic Competition and Preference Diversity," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 59(2), pages 361-73, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Hart, Oliver D, 1985. "Monopolistic Competition in the Spirit of Chamberlin: A General Model," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(4), pages 529-46, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Gabszewicz, Jean J. & Shitovitz, Benyamin, 1992. "The core in imperfectly competitive economies," Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, in: R.J. Aumann & S. Hart (ed.), Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Applications, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 459-483 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Xavier Vives, 1990. "Trade Association Disclosure Rules, Incentives to Share Information, and Welfare," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(3), pages 409-430, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Yang, Xiaokai & Heijdra, Ben J, 1993. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 295-301, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-99, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Ottaviano, Gianmarco Ireo Paolo & Thisse, Jacques-François, 1998. "Agglomeration and Trade Revisited," CEPR Discussion Papers 1903, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Kiminori Matsuyama, 1995. "Complementarities and Cumulative Processes in Models of Monopolistic Competition," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 701-729, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages S71-102, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1993. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 302-04, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fabrice Darrigues & Jean-Marc Montaud, 2001. "Les pays du sud doivent-ils craindre l'élargissement de l'UEM aux PECO ?," Documents de travail 63, Groupe d'Economie du Développement de l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV. [Downloadable!]
  2. Nisvan Erkal & Daniel Piccinin, 2006. "Horizontal Mergers with Free Entry in Differentiated Oligopolies," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 976, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  3. Volker Grossmann, 2003. "Firm Size and Diversification: Asymmetric Multiproduct Firms under Cournot Competition," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  4. Canoy, Marcel & van der Ploeg, Frederick & van Ours, Jan C, 2005. "The Economics of Books," CEPR Discussion Papers 4892, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Baldwin, John R. & Gu, Wulong, 2006. "The Impact of Trade on Plant Scale, Production-Run Length and Diversification," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2006038e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
  6. Irene Brambilla, 2006. "Multinationals, Technology, and the Introduction of Varieties of Goods," NBER Working Papers 12217, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Carsten Eckel & J. Peter Neary, 2006. "Multi-Product Firms and Flexible Manufacturing in the Global Economy," Economics Series Working Papers 292, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer & John Ries, 2000. "On the Pervasiveness of Home Market Effects," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0862, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Caminal, Ramón, 2006. "Too Many or Too Few Varieties? The Role of Multiproduct Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 5938, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Baldwin, John R. & Gu, Wulong, 2006. "Les répercussions du commerce sur la taille des usines, la durée des cycles de production et la diversification," Série de documents de recherche sur l'analyse économique (AE) 2006038f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques. [Downloadable!]
  11. Grossmann, Volker, 2003. "Managerial Job Assignment and Imperfect Competition in Asymmetric Equilibrium," IZA Discussion Papers 738, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  12. Ramon Caminal & Lluís M. Granero, 2008. "Multi-product Firms and Product Variety," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 734.08, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC). [Downloadable!]
  13. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles, 2001. "Labour Pooling, Labour Poaching and Spatial Clustering," CEPR Discussion Papers 2975, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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