DP15475 Constant Pass-Through
Author(s): | Kiminori Matsuyama, Philip Ushchev |
Publication Date: | November 2020 |
Keyword(s): | Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES), Constant Pass-Through (CoPaTh), Constant Price Elasticity (CPE), H.D.I.A., H.I.I.A., H.S.A., Heterogenous firms, Homothetic Demand Systems, monopolistic competition |
JEL(s): | D21, D43, L13 |
Programme Areas: | Industrial Organization, International Trade and Regional Economics, International Macroeconomics and Finance, Monetary Economics and Fluctuations, Macroeconomics and Growth |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15475 |
We propose and characterize parametric families of homothetic demand systems, which feature a constant pass-through rate that is common across otherwise heterogenous monopolistically competitive firms. These parametric families offer natural, flexible, and yet tractable extensions of CES. In the case of complete pass-through, the markup rate is constant, as in CES, yet it can be heterogenous across firms, unlike in CES. In the case of incomplete pass-thorough, the price of each firm is log-linear in its marginal cost and its choke price with the common coefficients across firms. Tougher competition, captured by a lower "average price," reduces the prices of all firms at a uniform rate, and hence without affecting their relative prices. Yet, it causes a disproportionately larger decline in the revenue and the profit among firms with lower markup rates.