Working Paper

Existence, Uniqueness and Some Comparative Statics for Ratio- and Lindahl Equilibria: New Wine in Old Bottles

Wolfgang Buchholz, Richard Cornes, Wolfgang Peters
CESifo, Munich, 2006

CESifo Working Paper No. 1802

We present a rigorous, yet elementary, demonstration of the existence of a unique Lindahl equilibrium under the assumptions that characterize the standard n-player public good model. Indeed, our approach, which exploits the aggregative structure of the public good model, lends itself to a transparent geometric representation. Moreover, it can handle the more general concept of the cost-share or ratio equilibrium. Finally, we indicate how it may be ex-ploited to facilitate comparative static analysis of Lindahl and cost share equilibria.

CESifo Category
Public Finance
Keywords: public goods, Lindahl equilibrium, ratio equilibrium
JEL Classification: H410