Modelling Market Power in Labour and Product Markets in a Dynamic Economy

In this paper a unified framework is developed for modeling imperfect competition in a monopolistic economy in a dynamic setting. Concentrating on the steady state analysis, a graphical approach is developed in consumption/leisure space. In both cases, there is a distortion towards leisure and away from consumption/work. The unionized economy is dynamically efficient, in the sense that the marginal product of capital equals discount rate. However, the monopolistic economy is not: the marginal product of capital exceeds the discount rate. This enables us to compare the outcomes in terms of productivity, utility and employment.