Discrete Choice, Complete Markets, and Equilibrium

Simon Mongey and Michael Waugh

No 32135, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper characterizes the allocations that emerge in general equilibrium economies populated by households with preferences of the additive random utility type that make discrete consumption, employment or spatial decisions. We start with a complete markets economy where households can trade claims contingent upon the realizations of their preference shocks. We (i) establish a first and second welfare theorem, (ii) illustrate that in the absence of ex-ante trade, discrete choice economies are generically inefficient, (iii) show that complete markets are not necessary and a much smaller set of securities decentralizes the efficient allocation. We illustrate the relevance of these results in several canonical settings and for measuring how welfare changes in response to changes in prices.

JEL-codes: D5 D52 E2 F1 R13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-lma and nep-upt
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