15MonopolyWord文档下载推荐.docx

15MonopolyWord文档下载推荐.docx

《15MonopolyWord文档下载推荐.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《15MonopolyWord文档下载推荐.docx（47页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

marketshaveonlyoneseller

Analyzehowamonopoly

determinesthe

quantitytoproduceandthepriceto

charge

Seehowthemonopoly’s

decisionsaffect

economicwell-being

Ifyouownapersonalcomputer,itprobablyusessomeversionofWindows,theoperatingsystemsoldbytheMicrosoftCorporation.WhenMicrosoftfirstde-signedWindowsmanyyearsago,itappliedforandreceivedacopyrightfromthegovernment.ThecopyrightgivesMicrosofttheexclusiverighttomakeandsellcopiesoftheWindowsoperatingsystem.SoifapersonwantstobuyacopyofWindows,heorshehaslittlechoicebuttogiveMicrosofttheapproximately$50thatthefirmhasdecidedtochargeforitsproduct.Microsoftissaidtohaveamo-nopolyinthemarketforWindows.

Microsoft’sbusinessdecisionsarenotwelldescribedbythemodeloffirmbehaviorwedevelopedinChapter14.Inthatchapter,weanalyzedcompetitivemar-kets,inwhichtherearemanyfirmsofferingessentiallyidenticalproducts,soeachfirmhaslittleinfluenceoverthepriceitreceives.Bycontrast,amonopolysuchasMicrosofthasnoclosecompetitorsand,therefore,caninfluencethemarketpriceofitsproduct.Whileacompetitivefirmisapricetaker,amonopolyfirmisapricemaker.

Considerthe

variouspublic

policiesaimedat

solvingtheproblemofmonopoly

Seewhymonopoliestrytocharge

differentpricesto

differentcustomers

315

Inthischapterweexaminetheimplicationsofthismarketpower.Wewillseethatmarketpoweralterstherelationshipbetweenafirm’spriceanditscosts.Acompetitivefirmtakesthepriceofitsoutputasgivenbythemarketandthenchoosesthequantityitwillsupplysothatpriceequalsmarginalcost.Bycontrast,thepricechargedbyamonopolyexceedsmarginalcost.ThisresultisclearlytrueinthecaseofMicrosoft’sWindows.ThemarginalcostofWindows—theextracostthatMicrosoftwouldincurbyprintingonemorecopyoftheprogramontosomefloppydisksoraCD—isonlyafewdollars.ThemarketpriceofWindowsismanytimesmarginalcost.

Itisperhapsnotsurprisingthatmonopolieschargehighpricesfortheirprod-ucts.Customersofmonopoliesmightseemtohavelittlechoicebuttopaywhat-everthemonopolycharges.But,ifso,whydoesacopyofWindowsnotcost$500?

Or$5,000?

Thereason,ofcourse,isthatifMicrosoftsetthepricethathigh,fewerpeoplewouldbuytheproduct.Peoplewouldbuyfewercomputers,switchtootheroperatingsystems,ormakeillegalcopies.Monopoliescannotachieveanylevelofprofittheywant,becausehighpricesreducetheamountthattheircus-tomersbuy.Althoughmonopoliescancontrolthepricesoftheirgoods,theirprof-itsarenotunlimited.

Asweexaminetheproductionandpricingdecisionsofmonopolies,wealsoconsidertheimplicationsofmonopolyforsocietyasawhole.Monopolyfirms,likecompetitivefirms,aimtomaximizeprofit.Butthisgoalhasverydifferentramifi-cationsforcompetitiveandmonopolyfirms.AswefirstsawinChapter7,self-interestedbuyersandsellersincompetitivemarketsareunwittinglyledbyaninvisiblehandtopromotegeneraleconomicwell-being.Bycontrast,becausemonopolyfirmsareuncheckedbycompetition,theoutcomeinamarketwithamonopolyisoftennotinthebestinterestofsociety.

OneoftheTenPrinciplesofEconomicsinChapter1isthatgovernmentscansometimesimprovemarketoutcomes.Theanalysisinthischapterwillshedmorelightonthisprinciple.Asweexaminetheproblemsthatmonopoliesraiseforso-ciety,wewillalsodiscussthevariouswaysinwhichgovernmentpolicymakersmightrespondtotheseproblems.TheU.S.government,forexample,keepsacloseeyeonMicrosoft’sbusinessdecisions.In1994,itpreventedMicrosoftfrombuyingIntuit,asoftwarefirmthatsellstheleadingprogramforpersonalfinance,onthegroundsthatthecombinationofMicrosoftandIntuitwouldconcentratetoomuchmarketpowerinonefirm.Similarly,in1998,theU.S.JusticeDepartmentobjectedwhenMicrosoftstartedintegratingitsInternetbrowserintoitsWindowsoperat-ingsystem,claimingthatthiswouldimpedecompetitionfromothercompanies,suchasNetscape.ThisconcernledtheJusticeDepartmenttofilesuitagainstMicrosoft,thefinalresolutionofwhichwasstillunsettledasthisbookwasgoingtopress.

WHYMONOPOLIESARISE

monopoly

afirmthatisthesolesellerofaproductwithoutclosesubstitutes

Afirmisamonopolyifitisthesolesellerofitsproductandifitsproductdoesnothaveclosesubstitutes.Thefundamentalcauseofmonopolyisbarrierstoentry:

Amo-nopolyremainstheonlysellerinitsmarketbecauseotherfirmscannotenterthemarketandcompetewithit.Barrierstoentry,inturn,havethreemainsources:

◆Akeyresourceisownedbyasinglefirm.

◆Thegovernmentgivesasinglefirmtheexclusiverighttoproducesomegoodorservice.

◆Thecostsofproductionmakeasingleproducermoreefficientthanalargenumberofproducers.

Let’sbrieflydiscusseachofthese.

MONOPOLYRESOURCES

Thesimplestwayforamonopolytoariseisforasinglefirmtoownakeyresource.Forexample,considerthemarketforwaterinasmalltownintheOldWest.Ifdozensoftownresidentshaveworkingwells,thecompetitivemodeldiscussedinChapter14describesthebehaviorofsellers.Asaresult,thepriceofagallonofwa-terisdriventoequalthemarginalcostofpumpinganextragallon.Butifthereisonlyonewellintownanditisimpossibletogetwaterfromanywhereelse,thentheownerofthewellhasamonopolyonwater.Notsurprisingly,themonopolisthasmuchgreatermarketpowerthananysinglefirminacompetitivemarket.Inthecaseofanecessitylikewater,themonopolistcouldcommandquiteahighprice,evenifthemarginalcostislow.

Althoughexclusiveownershipofakeyresourceisapotentialcauseofmo-nopoly,inpracticemonopoliesrarelyariseforthisreason.Actualeconomiesarelarge,andresourcesareownedbymanypeople.Indeed,becausemanygoodsaretradedinternationally,thenaturalscopeoftheirmarketsisoftenworldwide.Thereare,therefore,fewexamplesoffirmsthatownaresourceforwhichtherearenoclosesubstitutes.

“Ratherthanamonopoly,weliketoconsiderourselves‘theonlygameintown.’”

CASESTUDYTHEDEBEERSDIAMONDMONOPOLY

Aclassicexampleofamonopolythatarisesfromtheownershipofakeyre-sourceisDeBeers,theSouthAfricandiamondcompany.DeBeerscontrolsabout

80percentoftheworld’sproductionofdiamonds.Althoughthefirm’sshareofthemarketisnot100percent,itislargeenoughtoexertsubstantialinfluenceoverthemarketpriceofdiamonds.

HowmuchmarketpowerdoesDeBeershave?

Theanswerdependsinpartonwhetherthereareclosesubstitutesforitsproduct.Ifpeopleviewemeralds,rubies,andsapphiresasgoodsubstitutesfordiamonds,thenDeBeershasrela-tivelylittlemarketpower.Inthiscase,anyattemptbyDeBeerstoraisethepriceofdiamondswouldcausepeopletoswitchtoothergemstones.Butifpeopleviewtheseotherstonesasverydifferentfromdiamonds,thenDeBeerscanex-ertsubstantialinfluenceoverthepriceofitsproduct.

DeBeerspaysforlargeamountsofadvertising.Atfirst,thisdecisionmightseemsurprising.Ifamonopolyisthesolesellerofitsproduct,whydoesitneedtoadvertise?

OnegoaloftheDeBeersadsistodifferentiatediamondsfromothergemsinthemindsofconsumers.Whentheirslogantellsyouthat“adiamondisforever,”youaremeanttothinkthatthesameisnottrueofemeralds,rubies,andsapphires.（Andnoticethatthesloganisappliedtoalldiamonds,notjustDeBeersdiamonds—asignofDeBeers’smonopolyposition.）Iftheadsare

successful,consumerswillviewdiamondsasunique,ratherthanasoneamongmanygemstones,andthisperceptionwillgiveDeBeersgreatermarketpower.

GOVERNMENT-CREATEDMONOPOLIES

Inmanycases,monopoliesarisebecausethegovernmenthasgivenonepersonorfirmtheexclusiverighttosellsomegoodorservice.Sometimesthemonopolyarisesfromthesheerpoliticalcloutofthewould-bemonopolist.Kings,forexam-ple,oncegrantedexclusivebusinesslicensestotheirfriendsandallies.Atothertimes,thegovernmentgrantsamonopolybecausedoingsoisviewedtobeinthepublicinterest.Forinstance,theU.S.governmenthasgivenamonopolytoacom-panycalledNetworkSolutions,Inc.,whichmaintainsthedatabaseofall.com,

.net,and.orgInternetaddresses,onthegroundsthatsuchdataneedtobecentral-izedandcomprehensive.

Thepatentandcopyrightlawsaretwoimportantexamplesofhowthegov-ernmentcreatesamonopolytoservethepublicinterest.Whenapharmaceuticalcompanydiscoversanewdrug,itcanapplytothegovernmentforapatent.Ifthegovernmentdeemsthedrugtobetrulyoriginal,itapprovesthepatent,whichgivesthecompanytheexclusiverighttomanufactureandsellthedrugfor20years.Similarly,whenanovelistfinishesabook,shecancopyrightit.Thecopy-rightisagovernmentguaranteethatnoonecanprintandselltheworkwithouttheauthor’spermission.Thecopyrightmakesthenovelistamonopolistinthesaleofhernovel.

Theeffectsofpatentandcopyrightlawsareeasytosee.Becausetheselawsgiveoneproduceramonopoly,theyleadtohigherpricesthanwouldoccurundercompetition.Butbyallowingthesemonopolyproducerstochargehigherpricesandearnhigherprofits,thelawsalsoencouragesomedesirablebehavior.Drugcompaniesareallowedto