Dixit and Stiglitz model
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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