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Monopoly and Market Power

Monopolies achieve market power by establishing barriers to entry preventing competition. These barriers include prohibitive fixed costs, control of a key resource, and government protection.

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Professional sports leagues exhibit market power by establishing exclusive relationships with players, teams, and television networks.

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Facebook maintains a dominant market share in social media despite attempts by competitors to wrestle this power away.

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Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars developing successful drugs. Government patents allow companies to recoup their investment by preventing competition for a fixed period of time, allowing drugs to be priced high when they cost pennies to reproduce (marginal cost is very low).

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Many electric companies are natural monopolies protected from competition by the government. However, the annual percentage growth in electricity demand has fallen at the same time as competition from renewable energy increases.