Chapter 8: Economics of Big Business
Market Structure Perfect Competition Monopoly Monopolistic Competition Oligapoly Monopoly
Degree of Market Power Concentration Ratio percentage of the market sale by the largest four (or eight) firms CR > 0.70 indicates significant market power
Perfect Competition Many buyers and many sellers Homogeneous product No barriers to enter the market Firms are price takers: Market price is set by D & S Firms produce all they can at the market price
Profit Maximization Business firms try to make the highest possible profit Profit = Total Revenue – Total Cost Profit is maximized when MC = MR MC = additional cost of producing an extra unit MR = additional revenue from selling an extra unit
Price-Taker Firms: P=MR=MC Market S D S = MC D = MR P P MC=MR S D q Q Quantity Quantity
Monopoly Many buyers, but only one seller Product maybe unique or differentiated Barriers to enter the market Firms are price-makers, facing the market demand
Reasons for Monopoly Control the supply of raw materials Investment / R&D requirements Government licensing Natural Monopoly
Price-Maker Firms: P>MC=MR D MC P MC=MR MC D MR Quantity Q
Perfect Competition vs. Monopoly Monopoly price is higher than the competitive price Monopoly output is lower than the competitive output Since monopoly causes resource misallocation it is outlawed by the Anti Trust Law
Price-Output Comparison Pc = competitive price Qc = competitive output Pm = monopoly price Qm = monopoly output Pm>Pc but Qm<Qc Price D Dead Weight Loss=ABC MC A P=MC Pm C Pc MC=MR B D MR Quantity Qm Qc
Natural Monopoly A firm that experiences “economies of scale” so that it operates with a declining average cost It is less costly to have one large firm than several small firms Government permits natural monopoly, but regulates its price to minimize the DW-loss
Long-run Average Cost $ Cost 4 1 25 100 Quantity Diseconomies of scale