Attilio da Empoli’s contribution to monopolistic competition theory

Abstract

Considers the contribution of Attilio da Empoli to the theory of value and distribution and especially his contribution to the theory of monopolistic competition. During the 1920s a lively discussion developed about the link between the cost structure of the individual firm and the degree of competition in the wake of the demise of the Marshallian concept of the “representative firm”. In this context, Attilio da Empoli contributed two monographs with the declared intent to provide a new theory of value. While falling short of this ambitious objective, shows that Attilio da Empoli formulated a number of original insights that were fully developed only many years later. The two most important of these concern the contestability of markets (“external competition”) and the inadequacy of the Cournot solution for spatially differentiated firms that compete with otherwise identical products.