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Monopoly and Antitrust Policy

PART III MARKET IMPERFECTIONS AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT. Monopoly and Antitrust Policy.

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Monopoly and Antitrust Policy

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  1. PART III MARKET IMPERFECTIONS AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT Monopoly and Antitrust Policy Imperfect Competition and Market Power: Core ConceptsPrice and Output Decisions in Pure Monopoly MarketsThe Social Costs of MonopolyPrice DiscriminationRemedies for Monopoly: Antitrust PolicyThe Enforcement of Antitrust LawA Natural Monopoly

  2. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS imperfectly competitive industry An industry in which single firms have some control over the price of their output. market power An imperfectly competitive firm’s ability to raise price without losing all of the quantity demanded for its product. Imperfect competition does not mean that no competition exists in the market. In some imperfectly competitive markets competition occurs in more arenas than in perfectly competitive markets. Firms can differentiate their products, advertise, improve quality, market aggressively, cut prices, and so forth.

  3. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS DEFINING INDUSTRY BOUNDARIES The ease with which consumers can substitute for a product limits the extent to which a monopolist can exercise market power. The more broadly a market is defined, the more difficult it becomes to find substitutes. FIGURE 13.1 The Boundary of a Market and Elasticity

  4. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS pure monopoly An industry with a single firm that produces a product for which there are no close substitutes and in which significant barriers to entry prevent other firms from entering the industry to compete for profits.

  5. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS BARRIERS TO ENTRY barrier to entry Something that prevents new firms from entering and competing in imperfectly competitive industries. Government Franchises government franchise A monopoly by virtue of government directive.

  6. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS Patents patent A barrier to entry that grants exclusive use of the patented product or process to the inventor. Economies of Scale and Other Cost Advantages Ownership of a Scarce Factor of Production The DeBeers Company of South Africa controls about 80 percent of the market for uncut diamonds.

  7. IMPERFECT COMPETITION AND MARKET POWER: CORE CONCEPTS PRICE: THE FOURTH DECISION VARIABLE Regardless of the source of market power, output price is not taken as given by the firm. Instead: Price is a decision variable for imperfectly competitive firms. Firms with market power must decide not only (1) how much to produce, (2) how to produce it, and (3) how much to demand in each input market (see Figure 7.3), but also (4) what price to charge for their output.

  8. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS To analyze monopoly behavior, we make two assumptions: (1) that entry to the market is blocked, and (2) that firms act to maximize profits.

  9. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS DEMAND IN MONOPOLY MARKETS FIGURE 13.2 The Demand Curve Facing a Perfectly Competitive Firm Is Perfectly Elastic; in a Monopoly, the Market Demand Curve Is the Demand Curve Facing the Firm With one firm in a monopoly market, there is no distinction between the firm and the industry. In a monopoly, the firm is the industry. The market demand curve is the demand curve facing the firm, and the total quantity supplied in the market is what the firm decides to produce.

  10. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS Marginal Revenue and Market Demand For a monopolist, an increase in output involves not just producing more and selling it, but also reducing the price of its output to sell it.

  11. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS FIGURE 13.3 Marginal Revenue Curve Facing a Monopolist

  12. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS FIGURE 13.4 Marginal Revenue and Total Revenue A monopoly’s marginal revenue curve shows the change in total revenue that results as a firm moves along the segment of the demand curve that lies directly above it.

  13. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS The Monopolist’s Profit-Maximizing Price and Output FIGURE 13.5 Price and Output Choice for a Profit-Maximizing Monopolist

  14. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS All firms, including monopolies, raise output as long as marginal revenue is greater than marginal cost. Any positive difference between marginal revenue and marginal cost can be thought of as marginal profit. The profit-maximizing level of output for a monopolist is the one at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost: MR = MC. The Absence of a Supply Curve in Monopoly A monopoly firm has no supply curve that is independent of the demand curve for its product. A monopolist sets both price and quantity, and the amount of output that it supplies depends on both its marginal cost curve and the demand curve that it faces.

  15. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS Monopoly in the Long and Short Run FIGURE 13.6 Price and Output Choice for a Monopolist Suffering Losses in the Short Run If a firm can reduce its losses by operating in the short run, it will do so.

  16. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS PERFECT COMPETITION AND MONOPOLY COMPARED FIGURE 13.7 A Perfectly Competitive Industry in Long-run Equilibrium

  17. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS FIGURE 13.8 Comparison of Monopoly and Perfectly Competitive Outcomes for a Firm with Constant Returns to Scale Relative to a perfectly competitive industry, a monopolist restricts output, charges higher prices, and earns positive profits.

  18. PRICE AND OUTPUT DECISIONS IN PUREMONOPOLY MARKETS COLLUSION AND MONOPOLY COMPARED collusion The act of working with other producers in an effort to limit competition and increase joint profits.

  19. THE SOCIAL COSTS OF MONOPOLY INEFFICIENCY AND CONSUMER LOSS FIGURE 13.9 Welfare Loss from Monopoly Monopoly leads to an inefficient mix of output.

  20. THE SOCIAL COSTS OF MONOPOLY RENT-SEEKING BEHAVIOR rent-seeking behavior Actions taken by households or firms to preserve positive profits. government failure Occurs when the government becomes the tool of the rent seeker and the allocation of resources is made even less efficient by the intervention of government. public choice theory An economic theory that the public officials who set economic policies and regulate the players act in their own self-interest, just as firms do.

  21. PRICE DISCRIMINATION price discrimination Charging different prices to different buyers. perfect price discrimination Occurs when a firm charges the maximum amount that buyers are willing to pay for each unit.

  22. PRICE DISCRIMINATION FIGURE 13.10 Price Discrimination EXAMPLES OF PRICE DISCRIMINATION Examples of price discrimination are all around us.

  23. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY • Historically, governments in market economies have assumed two basic and seemingly contradictory roles with respect to imperfectly competitive industries: • They promote competition and restrict market power, primarily through antitrust laws, and • they restrict competition by regulating industries.

  24. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTITRUST LAW: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND trust An arrangement in which shareholders of independent firms agree to give up their stock in exchange for trust certificates that entitle them to a share of the trust’s common profits. A group of trustees then operates the trust as a monopoly, controlling output and setting price.

  25. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY LANDMARK ANTITRUST LEGISLATION Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) A federal regulatory group created by Congress in 1887 to oversee and correct abuses in the railroad industry. Sherman Act Passed by Congress in 1890, the act declared every contract or conspiracy to restrain trade among states or nations illegal and declared any attempt at monopoly, successful or not, a misdemeanor. Interpretation of which specific behaviors were legal fell to the courts.

  26. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY The Sherman Act of 1890 rule of reason The criterion introduced by the Supreme Court in 1911 to determine whether a particular action was illegal (“unreasonable”) or legal (“reasonable”) within the terms of the Sherman Act. Standard Oil controlled about 91 percent of the refining industry in 1911.

  27. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY The Clayton Act and the Federal Trade Commission, 1914 Clayton Act Passed by Congress in 1914 to strengthen the Sherman Act and clarify the rule of reason, the act outlawed specific monopolistic behaviors such as tying contracts, price discrimination, and unlimited mergers. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) A federal regulatory group created by Congress in 1914 to investigate the structure and behavior of firms engaging in interstate commerce, to determine what constitutes unlawful “unfair” behavior, and to issue cease-and-desist orders to those found in violation of antitrust law.

  28. REMEDIES FOR MONOPOLY: ANTITRUST POLICY The Alcoa Case, 1945 per se rule A rule enunciated by the courts declaring a particular action or outcome to be a per se (intrinsic) violation of antitrust law, whether the result is reasonable or not.

  29. THE ENFORCEMENT OF ANTITRUST LAW INITIATING ANTITRUST ACTIONS Government Actions: The Antitrust Division and the FTC Wheeler-Lea Act (1938) Extended the language of the Federal Trade Commission Act to include “deceptive” as well as “unfair” methods of competition. Antitrust Division (of the Department of Justice) One of two federal agencies empowered to act against violators of antitrust laws. It initiates action against those who violate antitrust laws and decides which cases to prosecute and against whom to bring criminal charges.

  30. THE ENFORCEMENT OF ANTITRUST LAW SANCTIONS AND REMEDIES The courts are empowered to impose a number of remedies if they find that antitrust law has been violated. Specifically, the courts can “(1) forbid the continuation of illegal acts, (2) force the defendants to dispose of the fruits of their wrong, and (3) restore competitive conditions”

  31. THE ENFORCEMENT OF ANTITRUST LAW Consent Decrees consent decrees Formal agreements on remedies among all the parties to an antitrust case that must be approved by the courts. Consent decrees can be signed before, during, or after a trial.

  32. THE ENFORCEMENT OF ANTITRUST LAW Criminal Actions The practice of the Antitrust Division has been to limit criminal proceedings to outrageous violations, where intent to violate is clear. Treble Damages Any person or private company that sustains injury or financial loss because of an antitrust violation can recover damages from the guilty party over and above any fines levied.

  33. A NATURAL MONOPOLY natural monopoly An industry that realizes such large economies of scale in producing its product that single-firm production of that good or service is most efficient.

  34. A NATURAL MONOPOLY FIGURE 13.11 A Natural Monopoly Economies of scale must be realized at a scale that is close to total demand in the market.

  35. A NATURAL MONOPOLY DO NATURAL MONOPOLIES STILL EXIST? The classic examples of natural monopolies over the years have been public utilities. Until very recently, state governments have allowed public utility companies to exist as monopolies subject to tight regulation of prices. Today everything is changing.

  36. IMPERFECT MARKETS: A REVIEWAND A LOOK AHEAD A firm has market power when it exercises some control over the price of its output or the prices of the inputs that it uses. The extreme case of a firm with market power is the pure monopolist. In a pure monopoly, a single firm produces a product for which there are no close substitutes in an industry in which all new competitors are barred from entry.

  37. REVIEW TERMS AND CONCEPTS • Antitrust Division (of the Department of Justice) • barrier to entry • Clayton Act • collusion • consent decree • Federal Trade Commission (FTC) • government failure • government franchise • imperfectly competitive industry • Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) • market power natural monopoly patent perfect price discrimination per se rule price discrimination public choice theory pure monopoly rent-seeking behavior rule of reason Sherman Act trust Wheeler-Lea Act

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