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Market Size, Entrepreneurship, and Income Inequality

Author

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  • Behrens, Kristian
  • Zhelobodko, Evgeny
  • Pokrovsky, Dmitry

Abstract

We develop a monopolistic competition model with two sectors and heterogeneous agents who self-select into entrepreneurship, depending on entrepreneurial ability. The effect of market size on the equilibrium share of entrepreneurs crucially hinges on properties of the lower-tier utility function for differentiated varieties ? its elasticity of substitution and its Arrow-Pratt index of relative risk aversion. We show that the share of entrepreneurs, and the cutoff for self-selection into entrepreneurship, can increase or decrease with market size. The properties of the underlying ability distribution largely determine how income inequality changes with market size.

Suggested Citation

  • Behrens, Kristian & Zhelobodko, Evgeny & Pokrovsky, Dmitry, 2014. "Market Size, Entrepreneurship, and Income Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 9831, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9831
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Behrens, Kristian & Kanemoto, Yoshitsugu & Murata, Yasusada, 2015. "The Henry George Theorem in a second-best world," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 34-51.
    2. Wen-Tai Hsu & Lin Lu & Pierre M. Picard, 2023. "Income inequality, productivity, and international trade," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(1), pages 203-249, July.
    3. Chhy, Niroth, 2016. "The Rise of the Working Rich, Market Imperfections, and Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 75373, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    5. Vera Ivanova & Philip Ushchev, 2015. "When Ricardo Meets Chamberlin: A Simple Dynamic Model Of Monopolistic Competition," HSE Working papers WP BRP 99/EC/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    6. Yuichiro Matsumoto, 2018. "Endogenous Sunk Cost, Scale Economies, and Market Concentration," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 18-20, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    7. Pokrovsky, D. & Shapoval, A., 2015. "Distribution of Entrepreneurial Skills and Migration: Employment Structure, Income Inequality, and Welfare," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 36-62.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; Heterogeneous agents; Income inequality; Market size; Monopolistic competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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