Indeterminacy of Cournot–Walras equilibrium with incomplete markets

Abstract

AbstractThis paper studies a sole proprietorship economy with imperfect competition in a transferable utility setting. While consumers behave as price takers, producers issue real assets strategically to maximize their own utility. Even when complete markets are technologically feasible, equilibria with incomplete markets are robust, and they appear in large numbers: There is a continuum of equilibria with different asset spans that can be welfare-ranked. This real indeterminacy does not vanish as the number of producers goes to infinity. Therefore, the self-interest of producers restricts economic outcomes but does not determine them.