THE MEDIAN AND THE COMPETITIVE-EQUILIBRIUM IN ONE-DIMENSION

Two alternative models of legislative outcomes are the minimum winning coalition and the competitive equilibrium (Koford, 1982). In a unidim ensional setting, the outcome under the former is the median, while th e outcome under the latter is the highest net demand location. This pa per describes the competitive equilibrium in a unidimensional model, a nd shows that under some common conditions it coincides with the media n, in particular for pure redistributive issues. However, for distribu tive issues, the two equilibria will differ. Finally, the comparative statics of the two models are examined; while the winning coalition is sensitive only to changes in the location of the median, for ''distri butive'' issues the competitive equilibrium has the standard ''economi c'' comparative statics that the outcome adjusts in the direction of t he change in preferences.