Business Cycle in a Macromodel with Oligopoly and Agents†Heterogeneity: An Agent-Based Approach

This paper introduces a macromodel with oligopoly and entry/exit in a framework where individuals are heterogeneous in their budget constraints, since they can be workers, new entrant entrepreneurs, incumbent entrepreneurs or unemployed and may change their status due to a stochastic process, associated to entry and exit. Agents’ heterogeneity is explicitly modelled in the aggregate demand, that also accounts for the income distribution. Heterogeneity also plays a relevant role in the process of entry/exit in the goods market, which interacts with the labour market and generates macroeconomic fluctuations. As shown in the agent-based numerical simulation, the model provides a new interpretation of the business cycle and an explanation for the empirical phenomenon of countercyclical mark up.