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The economic analysis of product diversity

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  • Heritiana Ranaivoson

    (MATISSE)

Abstract

Product diversity is a long-debated issue in economics. We remind that mainly two questions have been given answers: (a) To which extent does the market provide diversity? (b) Why should this diversity be promoted? The first one stands out as the core of most articles on product diversity, whereas the second one is more evoked than really deepened. However, the economic analysis of product diversity stands out as a paradox. Actually, the definition of diversity itself has been somewhat forgotten. We try to give ways to overcome this absence so that product diversity can eventually be concretely assessed

Suggested Citation

  • Heritiana Ranaivoson, 2005. "The economic analysis of product diversity," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques r05083, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
  • Handle: RePEc:mse:wpsorb:r05083
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    File URL: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00197137
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    2. Jiancai Pi & Xiangyu Huang, 2021. "Product Variety and Wage Inequality," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 22(1), pages 135-151, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Product diversity; theory of consumer choice; monopolistic competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - 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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