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Monopoly Power and Endogenous Product Variety: Distortions and Remedies

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

Abstract

We study the efficiency properties of a dynamic, stochastic, general equilibrium, macroeconomic model with monopolistic competition and firm entry subject to sunk costs, a time-to-build lag, and exogenous risk of firm destruction. Under inelastic labor supply and linearity of production in labor, the market economy is efficient if and only if symmetric, homothetic preferences are of the C.E.S. form studied by Dixit and Stiglitz (1977). Otherwise, efficiency is restored by properly designed sales, entry, or asset trade subsidies (or taxes) that induce markup synchronization across time and states, and align the consumer surplus and profit destruction effects of firm entry. When labor supply is elastic, heterogeneity in markups across consumption and leisure introduces an additional distortion. Efficiency is then restored by subsidizing labor at a rate equal to the markup in the market for goods. Our results highlight the importance of preserving the optimal amount of monopoly profits in economies in which firm entry is costly. Inducing marginal cost pricing restores efficiency only when the required sales subsidies are financed with the optimal split of lump-sum taxation between households and firms.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14383.

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Date of creation: Oct 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14383

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Cited by:
  1. Behrens, Kristian & Murata, Yasusada, 2012. "Trade, competition, and efficiency," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 1-17.
  2. Andrea Colciago & Lorenza Rossi, 2011. "Endogenous Market Structures and Labor Market Dynamics," Quaderni di Dipartimento 139, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, revised Feb 2011.
  3. Campbell Leith & Simon Wren-Lewis, 2008. "Electoral uncertainty and the deficit bias in a New Keynesian Economy," Working Papers 2009_11, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow, revised Feb 2009.
  4. Kristian Behrens & Yasusada Murata, 2011. "Trade, Competition, and Efficiency (revised version)," Cahiers de recherche 1118, CIRPEE.
  5. Sanjay K. Chugh & Fabio Ghironi, 2011. "Optimal Fiscal Policy with Endogenous Product Variety," NBER Working Papers 17319, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Federico Etro & Andrea Colciago, 2007. "Endogenous Market Structure and the Business Cycle," Working Papers 126, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2007.
  7. Theresa Grafeneder-Weissteiner & Ingrid Kubin & Klaus Prettner & Alexia Prskawetz & Stefan Wrzaczek, 2012. "Coping with Inefficiencies in a New Economic Geography Model," Working Papers 1204, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
  8. Cambell Leith & Simon Wren-Lewis, . " Electoral Uncertainty and the Deficit Bias in a New Keynesian Economy," CDMA Conference Paper Series 0803, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis.
  9. Florin O. Bilbiie & Ippei Fujiwara & Fabio Ghironi, 2011. "Optimal Monetary Policy with Endogenous Entry and Product Variety," NBER Working Papers 17489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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