scholarly journals General Equilibrium Oligopoly and Ownership Structure

Econometrica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 999-1048
Author(s):  
José Azar ◽  
Xavier Vives

We develop a tractable general equilibrium framework in which firms are large and have market power with respect to both products and labor, and in which a firm's decisions are affected by its ownership structure. We characterize the Cournot–Walras equilibrium of an economy where each firm maximizes a share‐weighted average of shareholder utilities—rendering the equilibrium independent of price normalization. In a one‐sector economy, if returns to scale are non‐increasing, then an increase in “effective” market concentration (which accounts for common ownership) leads to declines in employment, real wages, and the labor share. Yet when there are multiple sectors, due to an intersectoral pecuniary externality, an increase in common ownership could stimulate the economy when the elasticity of labor supply is high relative to the elasticity of substitution in product markets. We characterize for which ownership structures the monopolistically competitive limit or an oligopolistic one is attained as the number of sectors in the economy increases. When firms have heterogeneous constant returns to scale technologies, we find that an increase in common ownership leads to markets that are more concentrated.

Author(s):  
Yves Balasko

This chapter analyzes an equilibrium model where privately owned firms feature either smooth decreasing or constant returns to scale. Profit of the constant returns to scale firms being equal to zero at equilibrium, the equilibrium of the model does not depend on the ownership structure of these firms. In addition, the convex conical production sets of these firms sum up into a convex cone. It is as if the production sector operating under constant returns consists of a unique firm. The general equilibrium model with decreasing and constant returns to scale firms is essentially the same model as the one considered in Chapter 10 with the addition of a unique firm operating under constant returns to scale. Nevertheless, this addition is enough to hamstring the approach of the preceding chapters based on the concept of price system that equates aggregate supply and demand. The solution is to add to that price system the activity of the constant returns to scale firm.


2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Corbo ◽  
Jean-Marie Dufour

The purpose of this paper is to study the characteristics of the production process in the Quebec economy. We devote particular attention to two features of the technology: the returns to scale and the substitution possibilities. Two forms of production functions, the Cobb-Douglas and an homothetic translog production function, are estimated for six branches of economic activity. These are: Agriculture; Fishing and Forestry; Mining; Quarying and Oil Wells; Manufacturing; Utilities; Services. Two main conclusions are derived from this work. First, there is strong evidence of constant returns to scale in all branches of the Quebec economy but services. Second, when comparing the Cobb-Douglas model with an homothetic translog model, the hypothesis that the true model is the Cobb-Douglas one cannot be rejected for five of our six sectors. Therefore, there is evidence that the elasticity of substitution is around one. Finally a byproduct of our work has been the construction of capital stock series for the Quebec economy (1960-73) disaggregated into 14 sectors, and two types of capital: construction and machinery and equipment.


1989 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohail J. Malik ◽  
Mohammad Mushtaq ◽  
Hina Nazli

This paper attempts to determine econometrically the underlying production relations for the large-scale textile manufacturing sector of Pakistan, based on data available from the siX most recent censuses of large-scale manufacturing industries. The cOllariance model is used for pooling the provincial data. Testing for alternative forms reveals that the CES production function with constant-returns-to-scale most adequately explains the underlying production structure. The estimates of the elasticity of substitution are significantly different from zero in all cases, implying significant and efficient employment generation possibilities.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (S1) ◽  
pp. 75-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRÉDÉRIC DUFOURT ◽  
TERESA LLOYD-BRAGA ◽  
LEONOR MODESTO

We incorporate imperfectly insured unemployment in the finance constrained economy proposed by Woodford (1986), by introducing unions and unemployment benefits financed by labor taxation. We show that this simple extension of the Woodford model changes drastically its stability conditions and local dynamics around the steady state. In fact, in contrast to related models in the literature, we find that, under constant returns to scale in production: (i) indeterminacy always prevails in the case of a unitary elasticity of substitution between capital and labor and (ii) flip and Hopf bifurcations occur for empirically credible elasticities of substitution between capital and labor, so that a rich set of dynamics may emerge at “realistic” parameters' values.


Author(s):  
Carlos Alós-Ferrer ◽  
Johannes Buckenmaier ◽  
Georg Kirchsteiger

AbstractWhen alternative market institutions are available, traders have to decide both where and how much to trade. We conducted an experiment where traders decided first whether to trade in an (efficient) double-auction institution or in a posted-offers one (favoring sellers), and second how much to trade. When sellers face decreasing returns to scale (increasing production costs), fast coordination on the double-auction occurs, with the posted-offers institution becoming inactive. In contrast, under constant returns to scale, both institutions remain active and coordination is slower. The reason is that sellers trade off higher efficiency in a market with dwindling profits for biased-up profits in a market with vanishing customers. Hence, efficiency alone might not be sufficient to guarantee coordination on a single market institution if the surplus distribution is asymmetric. Trading behavior approaches equilibrium predictions (market clearing) within each institution, but switching behavior across institutions is explained by simple rules of thumb, with buyers chasing low prices and sellers considering both prices and trader ratios.


Author(s):  
Ade Imam Muslim ◽  
Doddy Setiawan

Our study aims to investigate how information asymmetry and ownership structure affect cost of equity capital. For that purpose, we collected 246 issuers over 4 years for a total of 984 observations. By using panel data processing, we found that the information asymmetry we proxied through Price non-Synchronization and trading volume had an effect on the cost of equity capital. Our results also confirmed both Agency Theory and Pecking Order Theory. Both theories are in line with the conditions of the stock market in Indonesia. In addition, we found that institutional and foreign ownership structures also had an effect on the cost of equity capital. Furthermore, our results also confirmed Interest Alignment Theory and Entrenchment Theory. Our research is expected to contribute to the debate on the existence of information asymmetry and ownership structures in relation to the cost of equity capital. We also hope that it will be a valuable input for investors in considering their investment. Moreover, from the results of this study, investors can also consider foreign ownership or institutional ownership in determining their investment. In addition, stock market regulators in Indonesia can develop approaches to minimize information asymmetry and encourage foreign investors to invest in Indonesia.


Econometrica ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 35 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 419 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Maddala ◽  
J. B. Kadane

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Young

We provide industry-level estimates of the elasticity of substitution (σ) between capital and labor in the United States. We also estimate rates of factor augmentation. Aggregate estimates are produced. Our empirical model comes from the first-order conditions associated with a constant–elasticity of substitution production function. Our data represent 35 industries at roughly the 2-digit SIC level, 1960–2005. We find that aggregate U.S. σ is likely less than 0.620. σ is likely less than unity for a large majority of individual industries. Evidence also suggests that aggregate σ is less than the value-added share-weighted average of industry σ's. Aggregate technical change appears to be net labor–augmenting. This also appears to be true for the large majority of individual industries, but several industries may be characterized by net capital augmentation. When industry-level elasticity estimates are mapped to model sectors, the manufacturing sector σ is lower than that of services; the investment sector σ is lower than that of consumption.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenxing Ke

Abstract This paper investigates empirically whether firm ownership structures contribute to varying levels of legal compliance, which ultimately influence the likelihood of winning a lawsuit. I hypothesize that private companies are more likely to lose employment lawsuits because the rule of law within the company is rarely established. Using collected 2756 employment judgments decided by district courts in Beijing between 2014 and 2018, I test this hypothesis against three other types of ownership structures in China: state-owned enterprises, wholly foreign-funded companies, and partly foreign-funded companies. The statistical result confirms that private companies are more likely to lose cases, thus supporting the proposed hypothesis. In addition, the company’s scale and the company’s life span also have a significant influence on the employment lawsuit result.


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