Microeconomics
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781260507140
Author: David C. Colander
Publisher: McGraw Hill Education
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Chapter 15, Problem 1QAP
To determine
The ways in which monopolists use power to manipulate outcomes.
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A monopoly, unlike a perfectly competitive firm, has some market power. Thus, it can raise its price, within limits, without quantity demanded falling
to zero. The main way monopolies retain their market power is through barriers to entry, which prevent other companies from entering monopolized
markets and competing for customers.
Consider the market for taxi services. In order to own and operate a taxi, drivers are required to obtain a taxi medallion.
Which of the following best explains the barriers to entry that exist in this scenario?
Increasing returns to scale
Control over an important input
O Legal barriers
Many European governments are reluctant to allow online betting in an attempt to protect their national gambling businesses. A recent study found that seven countries out of the 27 in the European Union banned online gambling. Of the other 20 only 13 have opened their markets to competition; in the rest gambling is dominated by monopolies owned or licensed by the government. In the Netherlands, for example, residents can only place online bets with a state monopoly: De Lotto. The Ministry of Justice even warned banks in the country that they could be prosecuted if they transferred money to online gambling companies. Other countries have ordered online betting companies to block access to their sites. Their governments argue that this is to protect people from gambling excessively. However the revenue they gain from their own monopolies should not be ignored as a possible motive.
Questions
If governments believe that gambling is bad for their citizens then in economic terms how would…
Consider the graph below that represents the demand curve for a good, the marginal
revenue of a potential monopolist, and the marginal cost before an innovation (MC1 =
1) and after a potential innovation of size y (MC2 = 1/y).
In the initial period, all firms have the same marginal cost MC1. A single firm can
choose to try to innovate. If it is successful, it becomes a monopolist in the second
period with marginal cost MC2.
1
1/Y
Demand
Marginal revenue
MC1
MC2
୪
Chapter 15 Solutions
Microeconomics
Ch. 15.1 - Prob. 1QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 2QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 3QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 4QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 5QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 6QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 7QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 8QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 9QCh. 15.1 - Prob. 10Q
Ch. 15 - Prob. 1QECh. 15 - Prob. 2QECh. 15 - Prob. 3QECh. 15 - Prob. 4QECh. 15 - Prob. 5QECh. 15 - Prob. 6QECh. 15 - Prob. 7QECh. 15 - Prob. 8QECh. 15 - Prob. 9QECh. 15 - Prob. 10QECh. 15 - Prob. 11QECh. 15 - Prob. 12QECh. 15 - Prob. 13QECh. 15 - Prob. 14QECh. 15 - Prob. 15QECh. 15 - Prob. 16QECh. 15 - Prob. 17QECh. 15 - Prob. 18QECh. 15 - Prob. 1QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 2QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 3QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 4QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 5QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 1IPCh. 15 - Prob. 2IPCh. 15 - Prob. 3IPCh. 15 - Prob. 4IPCh. 15 - Prob. 5IPCh. 15 - Prob. 6IPCh. 15 - Prob. 7IP
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- Monopolists, unlike competitive firms, have some market power. A monopolist can increase price, within limits, without the quantity demanded falling to zero. The main way it retains its market power is through barriers to entry-that is, other companies cannot enter the market to create competition in that particular industry. Complete the following table by indicating which barrier to entry appropriately explains why a monopoly exists in each scenario. Barriers to Entry Scenario During most of the 1900s, the De Beers Group of South Africa was viewed as a monopoly because it controlled a large percentage of diamond production and sales. In the natural gas industry, low average total costs are obtained only through large-scale production. In other words, the initial cost of setting up all the necessary pipes and hoses makes it risky and, most likely, unprofitable for competitors to enter the market. In an imaginary country, there is only one federally licensed lottery agency in any…arrow_forwardWhat stops oligopolists from acting together as a monopolist and earning the highest possible level of profits? Is there a way for oligopolists to attempt to cooperate and maximize profits? What are the risks of such attempts (and ultimately, generally cause such attempts to fail)?arrow_forwardpic 1 : Many schemes for price discriminating involve some cost. For example, discount coupons take up the time and resources of both the buyer and the seller. This question considers the implications of costly price discrimination. To keep things simple, suppose that our monopolist's production costs are simply proportional to output, so that average total cost and marginal cost are constant and equal to each other. On the following graph, use the grey point (star symbol) to indicate the price and quantity that would emerge under a monopoly without price discrimination. Then use the purple point (diamond symbol) to shade the area corresponding to the monopolist's profit, and use the green point (triangle symbol) to shade the area corresponding to consumer surplus. Finally, use the black point (plus symbol) to shade the area corresponding to deadweight loss. Let the region representing monopolist's profit be called XX, consumer surplus YY, and deadweight loss ZZ. Suppose the…arrow_forward
- What stops oligopolists from acting together as a monopolist and earning the highest possible level of profits? Offer two obstacles to oligopolists cooperating.arrow_forwardSuppose that a monopolist, who sells all units at a uniform price, faces an inverse market demand curve P=200- 4Q. If there is no cost of production, what output would the firm produce to maximize profit, what price would the firm charge, and what profit would the firm earn? Give the numerical value of these three variablesarrow_forwardOnly one firm produces and sells soccer balls in the country of Wiknam, and as the story begins, international trade in soccer balls is prohibited. The following equations describe the monopolist's demand, marginal revenue, total cost, and marginal cost: Demand: P = 10 - Q Marginal Revenue:MR = 10 - 2 Q Total Cost TC= 3 + Q+0.5 Q2 Marginal Cost: MC= 1+ Q, where Q is quantity and Pis the price measured in Wiknamian dollars. a. How many soccer balls does the monopolist produce? At what price are they sold? What is the monopolist's profit? b. One day, the King of Wiknam decrees that henceforth there will be free trade-either imports or exports of soccer balls at the world price of $6.The firm is now a price taker in a competitive market What happens to the domestic production of soccer balls? To domestic consumption? Does Wiknam export or import soccer balls? c. In our analysis of international trade in Chapter a country becomes an exporter when the price without trade is below the…arrow_forward
- Monopolists, unlike competitive firms, have some market power. A monopolist can increase price, within limits, without the quantity demanded falling to zero. The main way it retains its market power is through barriers to entry-that is, other companies cannot enter the market to create competition in that particular industry. Complete the following table by indicating which barrier to entry appropriately explains why a monopoly exists in each scenario. Barriers to Entry Economies of Scale Scenario In the natural gas industry, low average total costs are obtained only through large-scale production. In other words, the initial cost of setting up all the necessary pipes and hoses makes it risky and, most likely, unprofitable for competitors to enter the market. The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) formerly controlled all U.S. sources of bauxite, a key component in the production of aluminum. Given that Alcoa did not sell bauxite to any other companies, Alcoa was a monopolist in the…arrow_forwardTypically the model of Monopoly predicts that all customers are charged the same price and that the monopolist selects the quantity and price combination from the market demand curve that maximizes profit. However, there are times where a monopolist may at least attempt to charge different prices for the exact same product depending on each consumer's willingness and ability to pay. In this case the monopolist might offer the product at a lower price to those who would otherwise not buy it, thus increasing quantity consumed in the market and reducing some of what is called the dead weight loss of monopoly. However, much of what is called "consumer surplus" is transferred to the monopolist as profit.arrow_forwardOnly one firm produces and sells soccer balls in the country of Wiknam, and as the story begins, international trade in soccer balls is prohibited. The following equations describe the monopolist's demand, marginal revenue, total cost, and marginal cost: Demand: P=15-Q Marginal Revenue: MR = 15-20 Total Cost: Marginal Cost: TC=3+Q+0.50² MC = 3+Q where Q is quantity and P is the price measured in Wiknamian dollars. The monopolist produces soccer balls and sells them at a price of s each. The monopolist's profit is s The domestic production of soccer balls will to Wiknam will soccer balls in this case. One day, the King of Wiknam decrees that henceforth there will be free trade-either imports or exports-of soccer balls at the world price of $10. The firm is now a price taker in a competitive market. soccer balls, and domestic consumption will to in this case. In the analysis of international trade in Chapter 9, a country becomes an exporter when the price without trade is below the world…arrow_forward
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