...The regulation of Monopolies & the Microsoft Trial Research Paper Macroeconomics By: Ashleigh Magliano Introduction: Larger companies can become big threats to other smaller companies that are in a given market due to their power and innovation. Sometimes this can become more than a threat, and it turns to no competition at all between the markets due to the monopolization of a company. A company becomes a monopoly when it gains the control of the industry and has obtained the ability to change the output prices in that specific industry. With such power this opposes a threat to other businesses. The government has set up specific regulations for monopolies to control what they sell, how they sell it, and what services are allowed for consumers. The importance of regulating monopolies is to keep the market alive, to allow freedom for other smaller businesses. This keeps up competition in the market, and also keeps the monopolies from doing anything unreasonable. This has led to numerous trials on major companies, one of the biggest cases would be the trial against Microsoft INC. Acts for Regulating Monopolies: In 1890 the Sherman Antitrust act was put into effect, named after the Senator of Ohio, John Sherman and was the first component for congress to prohibit trust.(General Records of the United States Government, Record number 11) The Sherman Act intended by congress to help keep up competition in markets. Unfortunately the act was written to vague there were...
Words: 2220 - Pages: 9
...Monopoly is nearly always seen as something undesirable. Courts have wrestled with monopoly for ages, sometimes defining it as: "the power to control prices and exclude competition", "restraining trade", or "unfair and anti-competitive behavior." Should monopolistic practices be condemned and outlawed? Let's look at anti-competitive behavior and practices, but let's not confine ourselves to what's traditionally seen as monopoly. Monopoly means that a firm is sole seller of a product without any close substitutes, controls over the prices the firms charge. Government sometime grants a monopoly because doing so is viewed not only to be in the public interest, but also to encourage it with price incentives. However, monopolies fail to meet their resource allocation efficiently, producing less than the socially desirable quantities of output and charging prices above marginal cost. Thus, this inefficiency of monopoly causes the quantity sold to fall short of social needs. Law The existence of a very high market share does not always mean consumers are paying excessive prices since the threat of new entrants to the market can restrain a high-market-share company's price increases. Competition law does not make merely having a monopoly illegal, but rather abusing the power a monopoly may confer, for instance through exclusionary practices (i.e. pricing high just because you are the only one around.) It may also be noted that it is illegal to try to obtain a monopoly, by practices...
Words: 749 - Pages: 3
...(Spring 2007) 11-21 Applicability of the Theories of Monopoly and Perfect Competition -Some Implications Ravinder Rena * College of Arts and Social Sciences Eritrea Institute of Technology Gobind M. Herani * Indus Institute of Higher Education (IIHE) ABSTRACT This paper addresses the concern that monopolies arise naturally out of the free market. An attempt is made to compare and contrast two theories of monopoly economic and political monopoly that this is not true. This paper further demonstrates that the two theories of monopoly have their separate roots in two opposite theories of competition: perfect competition and competition as rivalry. Hence the paper discusses only one of these theories of competition accurately describes the nature of competition in an economy. Besides, the paper also delves the two theories of competition and monopolies are derived from collectivist and individualist political philosophy. It illustrates how perfect competition and economic monopoly have undermined economists' understanding of the actual nature of both competition and monopoly. After investigating these theories, an attempt to made to apply them to show how one can come to very different conclusions about when monopoly power does and does not exist. Keywords : Monopoly, Perfect Competition, firm, industry, government, egalitarianism, etc. 1. INTRODUCTION It is often claimed that a free market leads to large firms gaining monopoly power and being able to restrict the output of the...
Words: 6569 - Pages: 27
...In economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it. Suppose that, instead of many sellers, there are only a few, or even one. Each seller provides a substantial part of the market supply. As a result, the market price will be affected whenever he varies the amount he supplies of the commodity. In other words, he is faced with a downward sloping demand curve. Similarly, on the buying side, when any buyer takes a significant proportion of the total market supply, he will be faced by a rising supply curve. In both cases we have some elements of ‘imperfect competition’. Monopoly is always characterised by number of peculiarities: 1) One firm and many buyers, that is, a market comprised of a single supplier selling to a multitude of small, independently acting buyers; 2) A lack of substitute products, that is, there are no close substitutes for the monopolist’s product; 3) Blockaded entry, that is, barriers to entry are so severe that is impossible for new firms to enter the market. In static monopoly the monopolist is in a position to set the market price. However, unlike a perfectly competitive producer the monopolist’s marginal and average revenue curves are not identical. The monopolist faces a downward-sloping demand curve and the sale of additional units of its product forces down the price...
Words: 1445 - Pages: 6
...Market failure is caused by the market failing to provide the type or quantity of goods and services wanted by consumers. This means that resources have not been allocated efficiently. This could be because of four factors: imperfect competition, external costs and external benefits are ignored (externalities), public goods are not provided, or merit goods are not provided in sufficient quantity. Imperfect competition From a business’s point of view competition is bad as it drives down the price of the product they are trying to sell but for the economy as a whole it is a positive thing as many customers are having their wants and needs met. Imperfect competition can cause market failure through monopoly, a monopoly is a singular supplier of a product which can lead to exorbitant pricing or inferior products as consumers have no other options. Another cause of imperfect competition is an oligopoly which is very few dominant suppliers providing a product giving one supplier the opportunity to drive up the price allowing the other suppliers the freedom to do the same. An oligopoly also increases frequency of cartels. A cartel is a mutual agreement between suppliers and possibly producers to keep prices at a set price leaving consumers with no option to shop around for a better price. Externalities An externality is something that is a by-product or consumption which affects a third party externally. Externalities can be positive or negative. Positive externalities have...
Words: 1114 - Pages: 5
...was also discussion on the flow of the market firms and how the price elasticity worked within these firms markets. There was need to describe the high entry barriers that firms face when entering into the market when competing with other more established firms, that have known names against a small proprietors entering this market and the competitions it faces. There was the explaining how the smaller proprietors that do not have a famous or more renown name can hurt them when competing against monopolies and oligopolies, and how these market structures are formed and how they can edge out small proprietors with pricing and products sold that people are more familiar with. The mayor was interested and need to know how the local, state and federal governments could step in and help these smaller firms if there is seen a favoritism towards the higher monopolies and oligopolies. It was explained how this was important to help his local citizens build a business. Finally it was explained how international trade and their effect might help the local companies expand more into the international market and start a cash flow that would benefit the town and the firm owner. For a perfect competition there are six characteristics that will make it...
Words: 2331 - Pages: 10
...Monopoly Public interest is virtual another way to describe consumers’ wants, namely, maximising utility at the lowest price and the best quality. This concept has been contributed by Jeremy Bentham and J.S. Mill referred to “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”. (Handout, 2004, the ‘public interest’) In the market structure, one extreme form, imperfect competition is known as monopoly. The following is going to discuss that monopoly is always against the public interest. To compare with perfect competition (another extreme form), the potential strengths and weaknesses of monopoly will be presented and examine which one can be best to serve the public interest. First of all, a monopoly literally means a sole seller, it occurs when there is only one firm in the whole industry. But in practice, it is difficult to exist. Thus more than 25% market share in the industry is identified as monopoly by its legal definition. Meanwhile monopoly also exists in a certain region, e.g. a local water company dominates the local market as ‘natural monopoly’ which means that market may be too small to support more than one firm to achieve significant economies of scale. A major characteristic of monopoly is high barriers to entry. For example, a specific legal barrier protects monopoly in term of patent on essential processes, copyright and licenses and so on. At the same time, monopoly protects itself from competing through a...
Words: 2227 - Pages: 9
...Market Structure and Maximizing Profits There are four structures that exist within a market. These four are perfect competition, monopolistic competition, monopoly, and oligopoly. I will explain each market structure, and define what they are. I will also discuss how each structure works, and how each form maximizes the companies’ profits. I will also explain how to find the maximum possible price for an object before the company will start to lose money. If the company is not making a profit the company may go bankrupt. The company must pay attention to its market structure along with its own profit margins. The following are some characteristics of a company’s market structure. “These characteristics are: (a) number of firms in the market, (b) control over the price of the relevant product, (c) type of the product sold in the market, (d) barriers to new firms entering the market, and (e) existence of non-price competition in the market” (Sahu, pg.1, 2010) By determining how many companies are in a specific market you can determine the amount of competition there is producing the same product. What the product is will determine if the item is being supplied in a competitive market structure or a monopoly. This will also determine the amount of profits made by the company on the item. There are a few barriers that can hinder a company from entering a market. These barriers are product availability, ownership, patents, and if the company owns the items original location...
Words: 1168 - Pages: 5
...the market for competition. In all the others regulatory government encouraged natural monopolies. In this act the state removed the outdated barriers that protect the monopolies from competition and affirmatively promote efficient competition using tools forged by Congress. State and federal regulators devoted their efforts over many decades to regulating the prices and practices of these monopolies and protecting them against competitive entry. The Telecommunication Act of 1996 established three principal goals: 1. Opening the local exchange and exchange access market to competitive entry. 2. Promoting increased competition in telecommunications markets that are already open to competition, including the long distance services market. This opened one of the last monopoly bottleneck strongholds in telecommunications - the local exchange and exchange access markets. This reformed the telecommunication era by opening all providers to enter all markets. 3. Reforming our system of universal service so that universal service is preserved and advanced as the local exchange and exchange access markets move from monopoly to competition. Universal service reform order will rework the subsidy system to guarantee affordable service to all Americans in an era in which competition will be the driving force in All the previous rulings shielded the telephone companies from competition. The 1996 Act required telephone companies to open their network to competition. The 1996 Act...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...ESPN’s Monopoly Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University xxxxxx Charge the highest price per unit at which this quantity of output can be sold or charge prices within demand? No matter the choice taken, ownership will always belong to the monopolist. According to Roger A. Arnold, a monopoly is a market structure in which there is a single supplier of a good or service. Also, a firm that is the single supplier of a good or service for which there are no close substitutes. Monopolies form when there is no competition between a leading firm and other companies, which allows the leading company to charge unreasonable high prices. Although monopolies are forbidden, since the U.S. government first outlawed monopolies in the 1890s, there are companies to this day that still have control over virtual monopolies in their firms. A journalist, who wrote the ‘3 Companies That Have Monopolies In The United States’ article, explains that monopoly owned companies dominate their respective markets and have no significant competitor. For instance, should ESPN be allowed to have their monopolized network for all things sports? In order to retain a monopoly, the ESPN company must prove the theory of monopoly, monopoly pricing, and output decisions by taking over the sports market. Sport marketing is a sector of marketing, which emphases both the promotion of sports’ events and teams along with the promotion of sports’ products and services. The sports market contains a distribution service,...
Words: 1238 - Pages: 5
...Competition and Regulation Historical Background The “Industrial Revolution” brought more than just change to the agricultural environment of America, it brought change to the business environment as well. New industries such as railroads, petroleum, coal, and meatpacking began to be “monopolized” (either as pure monopolies or oligopolies), and achieving such dominance, these businesses began implementing questionable production, employment, and pricing tactics. Not surprisingly, these practices lead to a public revolt against monopolies, which resulted in government intervening on behalf of the complainants. Define Industrial Regulation Two solutions were implemented to deal with oligopolies and monopolies— antitrust laws prohibiting monopolies were passed and regulatory agencies were formed to evaluate and/or regulate corporate organizations. Both solutions seek to increase competition and protect the public from unscrupulous business practices. The Federal Trade Commission was formed through the Federal Trade Commission act of 1914 and gave government regulatory power over corporate mergers, and/or acquisitions, and the ability to investigate businesses for unfair approaches to competition or shady behavior. Essentially the desired impact of antitrust legislation and industrial regulation is to provide higher quality products and/or services at a better price to the consumer. Experience has shown that monopolies and oligopolies become abusive without governing...
Words: 1383 - Pages: 6
...SUBDOMAIN: 309.1 -‐ ECONOMICS Competency 309.1.3: Competition The graduate analyzes a firm’s competitive environment to determine whether the market exhibits characteristics of perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition. Objective 309.1.3-‐06: Describe how the need for governmental price regulation differs for firms in different competitive environments. Date: February 9, 2015 A) The Anti-‐Trust Laws Sherman Act (1890) The Sherman Act came about due to a growing public resentment of trusts. The antitrust legislation is broken down into two parts: • Section 1 “Every contract, combination in the form of a trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations is declared to be illegal.” Section 2 “Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several states, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony” (Brue, Flynn, & McConnell, 2012) ...
Words: 1764 - Pages: 8
...individuals, seeing the success of this industry, would try to enter the market in order to compete. This idea is the very basis of free market and capitalist economies. But sometimes there are situations where an individual will have a product or service that is better, cheaper, or quicker than everyone else; so much so that they are the only ones that can effectively provide it. When this occurs, competing businesses and giant government entities will stop at nothing to shut it down. The Sherman Antitrust Act, the Clayton Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act make up the current US antitrust laws. The antitrust laws are supposed to promote and protect competition. The philosophy behind the laws is that trusts and monopolies will stagnate markets and prevent others from engaging in healthy market competition. A monopoly is defined as a situation in which a single company owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service. (Investorwords, 2010) Antitrust law legislation started with the Sherman Act that was passed in 1890. The intent of the law was put in place to challenge the unchecked growth of corporations. By 1888, large corporations gained enough market muscle to dominate entire industries. The Sherman Act outlaws all contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain interstate trade. This includes agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids and allocate consumers. The Act also makes it a crime to monopolize any...
Words: 3898 - Pages: 16
...Differentiating Between Market Structures ECO/365 Differentiating Between Market Structures A market structure in economics describes the state of the market with respect to its competition. There exist several different market structures like perfect competition, oligopoly, and monopolies among others. These markets all produce different types of goods or services, as public and private goods as well as everyday and collective goods. Firms operating in these different market structures utilize the labor market in very different ways because of very divergent uses of energy in each market structure, so it is important for a firm to use the labor market equilibrium principles to their advantage to efficiently cover the costs of production and maximize profits. In economics a good is something defined as any object, service or right that increases utility, directly or indirectly. Goods are further broken down into public and private goods. A public good is a good that can be used simultaneously by many users, which is called non-rival, and people who have not paid for the good cannot be excluded from its utility, which in economics is call non-excludable. Together this means that the consumption of a public good by an individual does not affect the availability of that good to anyone else, which is called being non-rival and non-excludable. It’s obvious to see, however, that a truly non-rival and non-excludable good can’t exist; economists just look at the goods...
Words: 1749 - Pages: 7
...Anti-monopoly Analysis of Tencent QQ vs. 360 Dispute Weiwei Hu and Yimeei Guo School of Law., Xiamen University; 361005, China helusi420hw@163.com, ymguo@xmu.edu.cn Abstract. Anti-monopoly concerns are becoming more and more frequent for Internet industries competiting all over the world. This paper makes a case analysis of Tencent QQ vs. 360 dispute, then has some further thought from such dispute.Finally, it is hoped by this paper that China’s Anti-monopoly Law be healthily and perfectly enforced in the future. Keywords: Anti-monopoly, Internet industries, Case analysis. 1 Introduction Anti-monopoly concerns are becoming more and more frequent for Internet industries competiting all over the world.For example, in February 2011,Apple launched a new service that allows for magazine and newspaper subscriptions for its popular devices, might draw claim from publishers that Apple dominates the market for consumer tablet computers and that it has allegedly used that commanding position to restrict competition.[1] Also in February 2011,Hudong.com, an online encyclopedia, is alleging that Baidu unfairly blocks its Web pages from search results in favor of its own encyclopedia service, Baidu Baike.[2] On April 1,2011, Microsoft plans to file a complaint with the European Commission demanding action against competitor Google on competition law grounds. Microsoft claims that Google stops other companies from accessing the information needed to run effective search operations.[3]...
Words: 4229 - Pages: 17
