Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Jul, 1991, Volume 59, Issue 4

Arbitrage, Short Sales, and Financial Innovation

https://doi.org/0012-9682(199107)59:4<1041:ASSAFI>2.0.CO;2-N
p. 1041-1068

Douglas Gale, Franklin Allen

We describe a model of general equilibrium with incomplete markets in which firms can innovate by issuing arbitrary, costly securities. When short sales are prohibited, firms behave competitively and equilibrium is efficient. When short sales are allowed, these classical properties may fail. If unlimited short sales are allowed, imperfect competition may persist, even when the number of potential innovators is large. If limited short sales are allowed, perfect competition may obtain in the limit but equilibrium can be inefficient because of the presence of an externality: the private benefits of innovation for firms differ from the social benefits.


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