On functors preserving coproducts and algebras with iterativity

An algebra for a functor H is called completely iterative (cia, for short) if every flat recursive equation in it has a unique solution. Every cia is corecursive, i.e., it admits a unique coalgebra-to-algebra morphism from every coalgebra. If the converse also holds, H is called a cia functor. We prove that whenever the base category is hyper-extensive (i.e. countable coproducts are ‘well-behaved’) and H preserves countable coproducts, then H is a cia functor. Surprisingly few cia functors exist among standard finitary set functors: in fact, the only ones are those preserving coproducts; they are given by X ↦ W × ( − ) + Y for some sets W and Y.