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A case for incomplete markets

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  • Blume, Lawrence E.
  • Cogley, Timothy
  • Easley, David A.
  • Sargent, Thomas J.
  • Tsyrennikov, Viktor

Abstract

If two rational agents want to trade and there are no externalities, then trade is Pareto improving. Economists generally oppose restrictions on such trade. Complete markets allocations are Pareto optimal and thus complete markets are generally viewed as good. But when individuals want to trade because of heterogeneous beliefs, this standard argument is less compelling. We illustrate this in a standard general equilibrium setting and explore potential social benefits from restrictions on trade that make markets incomplete.

Suggested Citation

  • Blume, Lawrence E. & Cogley, Timothy & Easley, David A. & Sargent, Thomas J. & Tsyrennikov, Viktor, 2018. "A case for incomplete markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 191-221.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:178:y:2018:i:c:p:191-221
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2018.09.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eric Danan & Thibault Gajdos & Brian Hill & Jean-Marc Tallon, 2016. "Robust Social Decisions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2407-2425, September.
    3. Saki Bigio & Eduardo Zilberman, 2020. "Speculation-Driven Business Cycles," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 865, Central Bank of Chile.
    4. Takashi Hayashi & Michele Lombardi, 2016. "Social decision under uncertainty and responsibility for beliefs," Working Papers 2016_19, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. ÅžimÅŸek, Alp, 2021. "The Macroeconomics of Financial Speculation," CEPR Discussion Papers 15733, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Beißner, Patrick & Riedel, Frank, 2016. "Knight-Walras equilibria," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 558, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.
    7. Buss, Adrian & Dumas, Bernard & Uppal, Raman & Vilkov, Grigory, 2016. "The intended and unintended consequences of financial-market regulations: A general-equilibrium analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 25-43.
    8. Satoshi Nakada & Shmuel Nitzan & Takashi Ui, 2022. "Robust Voting under Uncertainty," Working Papers on Central Bank Communication 038, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics.
    9. Hill , Brian & Danan , Eric, 2014. "Aggregating Tastes, Beliefs, and Attitudes Under Uncertainty," HEC Research Papers Series 1057, HEC Paris.
    10. Chabakauri, Georgy & Han, Brandon Yueyang, 2020. "Collateral constraints and asset prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 754-776.
    11. Kim, Jeong Ho (John) & Kim, Byung-Cheol, 2021. "A welfare criterion with endogenous welfare weights for belief disagreement models," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 312-333.
    12. Philippe Mongin & Marcus Pivato, 2020. "Social preference under twofold uncertainty," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 70(3), pages 633-663, October.
    13. Guerdjikova, A. & Quiggin, J., 2020. "Financial market equilibrium with bounded awareness," Working Papers 2020-10, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    14. Johannes Brumm & Michael Grill & Felix Kubler & Karl Schmedders, 2023. "Re-use of collateral: Leverage, volatility, and welfare," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 47, pages 19-46, January.
    15. Motolese, Maurizio & Nakata, Hiroyuki, 2024. "Are macroeconomic indices fool's gold?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 240-260.
    16. Crès, Hervé & Tvede, Mich, 2018. "Regulation of trades based on differences in beliefs," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-141.
    17. Florian Schuster & Marco Wysietzki & Jonas Zdrzalek, 2023. "How Heterogeneous Beliefs Trigger Financial Crises," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 238, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    18. Steven D. Baker & Burton Hollifield & Emilio Osambela, 2018. "Preventing Controversial Catastrophes," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-052, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    19. Gadi Barlevy, 2015. "Bubbles and Fools," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Q II.
    20. Ani Guerdjikova & John Quiggin, 2019. "Market Selection With Differential Financial Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 87(5), pages 1693-1762, September.
    21. Pivato, Marcus, 2022. "Bayesian social aggregation with accumulating evidence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    22. Steven D Baker & Burton Hollifield & Emilio Osambela, 2020. "Preventing Controversial Catastrophes," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 1-60.
    23. Kaname Miyagishima, 2022. "Efficiency, equity, and social rationality under uncertainty," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 73(1), pages 237-255, February.
    24. Johan Walden & Christian Heyerdahl-Larsen, 2015. "Efficiency and Distortions in a Production Economy with Heterogeneous Beliefs," 2015 Meeting Papers 124, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    25. Maurizio MOTOLESE & NAKATA Hiroyuki, 2016. "Endogenous Fluctuations and Social Welfare under Credit Constraints and Heterogeneous Beliefs," Discussion papers 16082, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social welfare; Heterogeneous beliefs; Spurious unanimity; Speculation; Incomplete markets; Financial regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • D52 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Incomplete Markets
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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