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Efficiency and surplus bounds in Cournot competition

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Author Info
Simon P. Anderson ()
Régis Renault ()

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Abstract

We derive bounds on the ratios of deadweight loss and consumer surplus to producer surplus under Cournot competition. To do so, we introduce a parameterization of the degree of curvature of market demand using the parallel concepts of ?-concavity and ?-convexity. The ?more concave? is demand, the larger the share of producer surplus in overall surplus, the smaller is consumer surplus relative to producer surplus, and the lower the ratio of deadweight loss to producer surplus. Deadweight loss over total potential surplus is at Þrst increasing with demand concavity, then eventually decreasing. The analysis is extended to asymmetric Þrm costs.

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File URL: http://www.virginia.edu/economics/RePEc/vir/virpap/papers/virpap360.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Virginia, Department of Economics in its series Virginia Economics Online Papers with number 360.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2001
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Handle: RePEc:vir:virpap:360

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Related research
Keywords: Cournot equilibrium; social surplus analysis; deadweight loss; market performance.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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  1. Timothy J. Besley & Harvey S. Rosen, 1998. "Sales Taxes and Prices: An Empirical Analysis," NBER Working Papers 6667, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Cowling, Keith & Mueller, Dennis C, 1978. "The Social Costs of Monopoly Power," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 88(352), pages 727-48, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. 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)
  4. Caplin, Andrew & Nalebuff, Barry, 1991. "Aggregation and Imperfect Competition: On the Existence of Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 25-59, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Novshek, William, 1985. "On the Existence of Cournot Equilibrium," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(1), pages 85-98, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre & Kreider, Brent, 2001. "Tax incidence in differentiated product oligopoly," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 173-192, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Caplin, Andrew & Nalebuff, Barry, 1991. "Aggregation and Social Choice: A Mean Voter Theorem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 1-23, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. 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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  10. David M. Kreps & Jose A. Scheinkman, 1983. "Quantity Precommitment and Bertrand Competition Yield Cournot Outcomes," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 326-337, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
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  1. Anderson, Simon P & Renault, Régis, 2005. "Advertising Content," CEPR Discussion Papers 5064, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Tatiana Damjanovic & David Ulph, 2007. "Tax Progressivity, Income Distribution and Tax Non-Compliance," Discussion Paper Series, Department of Economics 0712, Department of Economics, University of St. Andrews. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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