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Market allocations under conflation of goods

Theoretical Economics 2026-03-17 v2

Abstract

We study competitive equilibria in exchange economies when a continuum of goods is conflated into a finite set of commodities. The design of conflation choices affects the allocation of scarce resources among agents, by constraining trading opportunities and shifting competitive pressures. We demonstrate the consequences on relative prices, trading positions, and welfare.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.18875,
  title  = {Market allocations under conflation of goods},
  author = {Niccolò Urbinat and Marco LiCalzi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.18875},
  year   = {2026}
}

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