Dixit and Stiglitz model

  • 格式:pdf
  • 大小:130.77 KB
  • 文档页数:23

3

MonopolisticCompetition

ThestandardmodelofeconomicgeographyreliesontheDixit–Stiglitz

modelofmonopolisticcompetition,whichmakesitpossibletointe-

gratebothincreasingreturnsandimperfectcompetitioninaverysimple

andelegantway.Thiscombinationiscrucialforeconomicgeography.

Indeed,asseeninchapter2,thepresenceofincreasingreturnsisneces-

sarytoexplaintheagglomerationofactivitiesinahomogeneousspace.

Underincreasingreturnsatthefirmlevel,theassumptionofperfect

competitionbecomesuntenable,asmarginalcostpricingresultsinneg-

ativeprofits.Wethereforeneedasettingthatintegratesbothincreasing

returnsandimperfectcompetitiontoanalyzetheformationofeconomic

agglomeration.Moreover,thissettingmustbeofthegeneral-equilibrium

typeasithastoincludetheinteractionsbetweenproductandlabor

markets.Finally,trademustariseinequilibriumifwewanttoavoid

regionsorcountriesendingupinautarky(seechapter2).Ofallthe

marketstructuresstudiedinindustrialorganization,economicgeogra-

phyhasfocusedonmonopolisticcompetition,eventhoughalternative

approacheshavebeenfollowed(seechapter9).Theaimofthischapter

istoexplainthereasonsforthischoiceandtosurveythisfamilyofmod-

els.Wefocushereonaclosedeconomy;thecaseofanopeneconomy

willbedealtwithinchapter4.

TheconceptofmonopolisticcompetitiongoesbacktoChamberlin

(1933).1Itcanbedescribedbymeansofthefollowingfourassumptions:

(i)Firmssellproductsofthesamenaturebuttheyarenotperfect

substitutes—werefertothemasthevarietiesofadifferentiated

good.

(ii)Everyfirmproducesasinglevarietyunderincreasingreturnsand

choosesitsprice.

1Theinterestedreaderwillfindamoreconciseand,aboveall,clearerpresentationofhisideasinChamberlin(1951)thaninthevariouseditionsofhisearlierwork.Inthischapter,weshallfocussolelyontheformulationsusedininternationaleconomicsandeconomicgeography.543.MonopolisticCompetition

(iii)Thenumberoffirmsbelongingtotheindustryissufficientlylarge

foreachofthemtobenegligiblewithrespecttothewholegroup

offirms.

(iv)Finally,thereisfreeentryandexit,soprofitsarezero.

Theseassumptionsbearastrongresemblancewiththoseofperfectcom-

petition,themaindifferencebeingthefactthathereeachfirmsellsa

specificproductandchoosesitsownprice.Thisendowseachfirmwith

aspecificmarket,inwhichthefirmhassomemonopolypower.How-

ever,theexistenceofothervarietiesimpliesthatthesizeofthismarket

dependsonthebehavioroftheotherfirms,thusconstrainingeachpro-

ducerintheirpricechoice.Inotherwords,althoughthefirmisnotina

situationofperfectcompetition,neitherisitinasituationofmonopoly.

Finally,sincefirmsoperateunderincreasingreturns,theresourcesavail-

ableintheeconomyimposealimitonthenumberofvarietiescapableof

beingproduced.Ingeneral,thisnumberdependsontheentrybarriers

thatfirmsface.Inthecaseofmonopolisticcompetition,itisassumed

thatthefixedcostassociatedwiththelaunchingofanewvarietyisthe

onlyeffectivebarrier.Suchanentrybarrierisnonstrategicbecauseit

cannotbemanipulatedbythefirms.

Afterhavingattractedagreatdealofattentioninthe1930s,Cham-

berlin’sideaslostmostoftheirappealuntilSpence(1976)and,above

all,DixitandStiglitz(1977)broughtthembackontothescientificstage

byproposingamodelcapableofbeingusedinvariouseconomicfields.

Spencehasdevelopedapartial-equilibriumsetting,whereastheDixit–

Stiglitzmodelplacesitselfinageneral-equilibriumcontext.Wewill

thereforefocusontheDixitandStiglitzmodelhere.Themainpurpose

ofthischapteristopresentanup-to-datediscussionofthismodeland

tostudyitsprincipalproperties.Wewillplacespecialemphasisonthe

roleplayedbytheassumptionofacontinuumoffirms.Hotelling(1929)

andAumann(1964)haveshownthattheideathananagent(whethera

consumerorafirm)hasnoinfluenceonamarketcanonlybecapturedby

meansofacontinuumofagents,whichareallnegligibleinthesenseof

measuretheory.2DespiteitsappropriatenesstodescribeChamberlin’s

intuition,ittookalongtimeforthisideatobeintegratedintotheframe-

workofmonopolisticcompetition.Inthesecondsectionofthischapter

wewillpresentalinearmodelofmonopolisticcompetitionrecentlyput

forwardineconomicgeographytoremedycertainweaknessesofthe

Dixit–Stiglitzmodel.

2Sincethen,thesameassumptionhasbeenmadeinseveraleconomicfields.3.1.TheDixit–StiglitzApproach55

3.1TheDixit–StiglitzApproach

Theeconomyismadeupoftwosectorscalledagriculture(orthetradi-

tionalsector)andindustry(orthemodernsector).Thedenominationof

thesetwosectorsisconventionalandcanvaryaccordingtothehistori-

calperiodunderconsideration.Forexample,foralongtimethetextile

industrywastheindustryofreference,whilethisrolewaslatertakenby

steeland,afterthat,bytheautomobilesector.Whatreallymattersfor

ourpurposesarethemarketandtechnologicalpropertiesofthesetwo

sectors:inagriculture,ahomogeneousgoodisproducedunderconstant

returnsandissoldinaperfectlycompetitivemarket;inthemanufactur-

ingsector,firmsproduceadifferentiatedgoodunderincreasingreturns