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In economics, a government-granted monopoly (also called a "de jure monopoly" or "regulated monopoly") is a form of coercive monopoly by which a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or firm to be the sole provider of a good or service; potential competitors are excluded from the market by law, regulation, or other mechanisms of government enforcement.
The United States federal government chartered and owned corporations operate to provide public services. Unlike government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or independent commissions, such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and others, they have a separate legal personality from the federal government.
A state monopoly can be characterized by its commercial behavior not being effectively limited by the competitive pressures of private organisations. [1] [2] This occurs when its business activities exert an extensive influence within the market, can act autonomously of any competitors, and potential competitors are unable to successfully compete with it.
The government may also reserve the venture for itself, thus forming a government monopoly, for example with a state-owned company. [citation needed] Monopolies may be naturally occurring due to limited competition because the industry is resource intensive and requires substantial costs to operate (e.g., certain railroad systems). [3]
The United States Postal Service is an example of a coercive monopoly created through laws that ban potential competitors such as UPS or FedEx from offering competing services (in this case, first-class and standard (formerly called "third-class") mail delivery). [14] Government monopolies also mandate taxpayers to subsidize these firms.
Additionally, the private companies tended to focus more on profit maximization than on the quality and quantity of service provided because water is a natural monopoly. Because of this, by 2000 only 15% of water supply remained privatized. [4] [5] There have also been multiple examples of privatization contracts being terminated by the government.
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Natural monopoly: This type of monopoly occurs when a firm can efficiently supply the entire market due to economies of scale, where larger production leads to lower costs. For example, in some cases, utilities (such as those providing electricity or water) may operate as natural monopolies due to high infrastructure and distribution costs.