Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T09:53:42.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

MONEY AS A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE WHEN GOODS VARY BY SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2005

XAVIER CUADRAS-MORATÓ
Affiliation:
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
RANDALL WRIGHT
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

Models of the exchange process based on search theory can be used to analyze the features of objects that make them more or less likely to emerge as money in equilibrium. These models illustrate the trade-off between endogenous acceptability (an equilibrium property) and intrinsic characteristics of goods, such as storability or recognizability. We look at how the relative supply and demand for various goods affect their likelihood of becoming money. Intuitively, goods in high demand and/or low supply are more likely to appear as commodity money, subject to the qualification that which object ends up circulating as a medium of exchange depends at least partly on convention. Welfare properties and fiat money are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)