Is “competitive competition” possible?

a comparison between neoclassical, structural and evolutionary competitions

Abstract

Despite its assumptions of “perfect competition”, the competitive modus observed in neoclassical theory assumes indistinct agents, that tale the same actions and produce the same product. Thus, “competition” in standard economic theory (or “concurrence, as it is labeled in this text) implies a situation of “non-competition” where economic agents have no aspirations of conquering markets, nor to overthrow other competitors. This paper will analyze the evolution of the theory of imperfect competition, focusing in two lineages: the Structure-Conduct-Performance theory (S-C-P) and evolutionary theories of Schumpeterian inspiration. Both will be compared to the neoclassical theory, taking it as a basis. This text seeks to analyze how competition derives from asymmetries, that is, when there is possibility to differentiate suppliers. This text argues that this is a necessary condition for a “competitive competition”. In summary, it is argued that there is only one type of “competitive competition” – imperfect competition.