IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/man/sespap/0518.html

On Monopolistic Competition and Optimal Product Diversity: A Comment on Cost Structure and Workers' Rents

Author

Listed:
  • P M Picard
  • E Toulemonde

Abstract

In the Dixit-Stiglitz model of monopolistic competition, entry of firms is socially too small. Other authors have shown that excess entry is also a possibility with other preferences for diversity. We show that the cost structure and workers's rents can also explain excess entry.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • P M Picard & E Toulemonde, 2005. "On Monopolistic Competition and Optimal Product Diversity: A Comment on Cost Structure and Workers' Rents," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0518, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:man:sespap:0518
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/schools/soss/economics/discussionpapers/EDP-0518.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/10191 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Benassy, Jean-Pascal, 1996. "Taste for variety and optimum production patterns in monopolistic competition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 41-47, July.
    3. George A. Akerlof & Janet L. Yellen, 1990. "The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 255-283.
    4. H. Hanson, Gordon, 2005. "Market potential, increasing returns and geographic concentration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-24, September.
    5. Gans, Joshua S., 1997. "Fixed cost assumptions in industrialisation theories," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 111-119, September.
    6. 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.
    7. Gianmarco Ottaviano & Takatoshi Tabuchi & Jacques-François Thisse, 2021. "Agglomeration And Trade Revisited," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 3, pages 59-85, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. d'Aspremont, Claude & Dos Santos Ferreira, Rodolphe & Gerard-Varet, Louis-Andre, 1996. "On the Dixit-Stiglitz Model of Monopolistic Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 623-629, June.
    9. Gans, J.S., 1995. "Fixed Cost Assumptions," Papers 95/47, New South Wales - School of Economics.
    10. d’ASPREMONT, Cl. & DOS SANTOS FERREIRA, R. & GERARD-VARET, L.-A., 1988. "Unemployment in a Cournot oligopoly model with Ford effects," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 1988018, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    11. P M Picard & E Toulemonde, 2005. "On Monopolistic Competition and Optimal Product Diversity: A Comment on Cost Structure and Workers' Rents," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0518, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    12. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry, 2004. "The empirics of agglomeration and trade," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 59, pages 2609-2669, Elsevier.
    13. Xavier Vives, 2001. "Oligopoly Pricing: Old Ideas and New Tools," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026272040x, December.
    14. Solow, Robert M., 1979. "Another possible source of wage stickiness," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 79-82.
    15. Benassy, Jean-Pascal, 1991. "Monopolistic competition," Handbook of Mathematical Economics, in: W. Hildenbrand & H. Sonnenschein (ed.), Handbook of Mathematical Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 37, pages 1997-2045, Elsevier.
    16. McDonald, Ian M & Solow, Robert M, 1981. "Wage Bargaining and Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 896-908, December.
    17. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/10191 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Picard, Pierre M. & Toulemonde, Eric, 2006. "Firms agglomeration and unions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 669-694, April.
    2. Fabien Candau, 2008. "Entrepreneurs' Location Choice And Public Policies: A Survey Of The New Economic Geography," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 909-952, December.
    3. Pierre M. Picard & Eric Toulemonde, 2009. "On monopolistic competition and optimal product diversity: workers' rents also matter," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 1347-1360, November.
    4. Ottaviano, G.I.P. & Thisse, J.-F., 1999. "Monopolistic Competition, Multiproduct Firms and Optimum Product Diversity," Economics Working Papers eco99/31, European University Institute.
    5. Pasquale Commendatore & Ingrid Kubin, 2009. "Dynamic effects of regulation and deregulation in goods and labour markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 517-537, July.
    6. Pflüger, Michael & Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2010. "The size of regions with land use for production," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 481-489, November.
    7. Parenti, Mathieu & Ushchev, Philip & Thisse, Jacques-François, 2017. "Toward a theory of monopolistic competition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 86-115.
    8. Breinlich, Holger & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2014. "Regional Growth and Regional Decline," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 683-779, Elsevier.
    9. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    10. Stephen J. Redding, 2013. "Economic Geography: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Daniel Bernhofen & Rod Falvey & David Greenaway & Udo Kreickemeier (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of International Trade, chapter 16, pages 497-531, Palgrave Macmillan.
    11. repec:esx:essedp:729 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Swati Dhingra & John Morrow, 2012. "The Impact of Integration on Productivity and Welfare Distortions Under Monopolistic Competition," FIW Working Paper series 088, FIW.
    13. Theresa Grafeneder-Weissteiner & Ingrid Kubin & Klaus Prettner & Alexia Prskawetz & Stefan Wrzaczek, 2012. "Coping with Inefficiencies in a New Economic Geography Model," VID Working Papers 1204, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    14. Stephen J. Redding, 2010. "The Empirics Of New Economic Geography," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 297-311, February.
    15. Gianmarco I P Ottaviano & Jacques-François Thisse, 2005. "New Economic Geography: What about the N?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(10), pages 1707-1725, October.
    16. Brito, Paulo B. & Costa, Luís F. & Dixon, Huw, 2013. "Non-smooth dynamics and multiple equilibria in a Cournot–Ramsey model with endogenous markups," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 2287-2306.
    17. Alberto Bucci & Philip Ushchev, 2016. "Specialization vs Competition: An Anatomy of Increasing Returns to Scale," HSE Working papers WP BRP 134/EC/2016, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    18. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry, 2006. "Regional wage and employment responses to market potential in the EU," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 573-594, September.
    19. Mohler, Lukas, 2009. "Globalization and the gains from variety: size and openness of countries and the extensive margin," MPRA Paper 17592, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Vivien Lewis & Céline Poilly, 2011. "Firm entry, inflation and the monetary transmission mechanism," Working Paper Research 211, National Bank of Belgium.
    21. Jesús López-Rodríguez & J. Andrés Faíña, 2000. "Human Capital Accumulation and Geography: Empirical Evidence in the European Union," Regional and Urban Modeling 283600060, EcoMod.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure

    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:man:sespap:0518. 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: Patrick Macnamara (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/semanuk.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.