Pure Monopoly in a Competitive World

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In the business world, the perfectly competitive firm is considered the price taker, whereas the monopolistic firm is the price maker, meaning they have control over the price. Pure monopoly does exist in today’s business world; we all have had the opportunity to have personal dealings with such companies. This assignment will discuss the various degrees of “monopolies” and attempt to provide accurate examples, allowing me to share my understanding of the competitive business market.

In a competitive business world, pure monopoly exists when a single firm is the exclusive producer of a product or service for which no close substitutes exist. There are three very distinct characteristics that can be used to describe a pure monopoly or a single seller:

1. Unique product- No close substitutes for a firm’s product or service is available.

2. Price maker- The firm has extensive control over the price as it holds control of the quantity supplied.

3. Blocked entry- A pure monopolistic firm does not worry about individual competition between itself and other firms because barriers such as economic, technologic, or legal barriers such as patents or licenses are at play which affords the title of pure monopoly because no one can gain entry into the market.

Barriers such as patents and licenses are in place in order to protect the inventor or a product. The government also plays a role in licensing a product or service. They can control entry by only allowing a certain amount of firms into a particular category such as we see in radio and television broadcasting ().

While these characteristics may seem very desirable from the point of view of a

company, they are usually not exceptionally desirable for consumers. Pure monopoli...

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...arket model in some instances; however, lobbying, legal fees and etcetera can involve substantial costs which would cause inefficiency in the long run.

In the business world, the perfectly competitive firm is considered the price taker, whereas the monopolistic firm is the price maker, meaning they have control over the price. Pure monopoly does exist in today’s business world; we all have had the opportunity to have personal dealings with such companies. This assignment has discussed the various degrees of “monopolies” and attempted to provide accurate examples, which has allowed me to share my understanding of the competitive business market.

Works Cited

Brue, S., McConnell, C., Flynn, S., 2010, PCP (38503). Custom book for Ashford: Essentials of Economics [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/0390132292/page/236

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