Monopolistic competition in general equilibrium: Beyond the CES
Pre-print, Working paper: We propose a general model of monopolistic competition and derive a complete characterization of the market equilibrium using the concept of Relative Love for Variety. When the RLV increases with individual consumption, the market generates pro-competitive effects. When it decreases, the market mimics anti-competitive behavior. The CES is a borderline case. We extend our setting to heterogeneous firms and show that the cutoff cost decreases (increases) when the RLV increases (decreases). Last, we study how combining vertical, horizontal and cost heterogeneity affects our results.
Author(s)
Evgeny Zhelobodko, Sergey Kokovin, Mathieu Parenti, Jacques-François Thisse
Date of publication
- 2011
Keywords JEL
Keywords
- Monopolistic competition
- Additive preferences
- Love for variety
- Heterogeneous firms
Internal reference
- PSE Working Papers n°2011-08
URL of the HAL notice
Version
- 1