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Two different types of cost are important in microeconomics: marginal cost and fixed cost.The marginal cost is the cost to the company of serving one more customer. In an industry where a natural monopoly does not exist, the vast majority of industries, the marginal cost decreases with economies of scale, then increases as the company has growing pains (overworking its employees, bureaucracy ...
Control of natural resources: A prime source of monopoly power is the control of resources (such as raw materials) that are critical to the production of a final good. Network externalities : The use of a product by a person can affect the value of that product to other people.
A natural monopoly earns negative profits if it sets price equals to marginal cost, so it must set prices for some or all of the products it sells to above marginal cost if it is to be viable without government subsidies. Ramsey pricing says to mark up most the goods with the least elastic (that is, least price-sensitive) demand or supply.
Australia is an example that meets this description. [18] A natural monopoly is a firm whose per-unit cost decreases as it increases output; in this situation it is most efficient (from a cost perspective) to have only a single producer of a good. Natural monopolies display so-called increasing returns to scale.
Public utilities are meant to supply goods and services that are considered essential; water, gas, electricity, telephone, waste disposal, and other communication systems represent much of the public utility market. The transmission lines used in the transportation of electricity, or natural gas pipelines, have natural monopoly characteristics.
A natural monopoly endures within the market, whereby the most efficient form of meeting demand is through the creation of a single government entity. [15] The state monopoly is legislated for, with legislative instruments precluding competitive activities regarding the provision of goods or services. [15]
For example, the cost to develop a factory and obtain the initial capital required for manufacturing can be seen as a structural barrier to entry. A strategic barrier to entry is a cost incurred by new entrants that is artificially created or enhanced by existing firms. [ 4 ]
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.