A Definition Of Monopoly Economics Essay

A Definition Of Monopoly Economics Essay Monopoly is an industry that has only one firm that sells a good which has no close substitutes. Monopoly firms also represent industries because there are no other firms in the market. Products that are from monopoly market are electricity, water, cable television, local telephone services and many more. Examples of monopoly firm in Malaysia is Tenaga Nasional Berhad, TNB’s unique position as a monopoly in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Peninsular Malaysia. TNB is the only firm that provides us electricity to every building in Malaysia. Another monopoly firm in Malaysia that only provide sewerage services is Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd. Indah Water Konsortium is the only firm in Malaysia that mainly responsible for operating and maintaining the public sewage treatment plants and network of underground sewerage pipelines. Characteristics of Monopoly Market One seller and large number of buyers Monopoly market characteristics are they is onl y one producer or seller in the market and there are many buyers. Therefore, the firm had the power to control the whole market whether it is from the angle of determining the price or the quantity of production. A monopolist has the power to determine the level of price because there is no competition from other firms. Therefore, if the monopolist intends to sell a bigger quantity, it has to reduce the price. This means that the monopolist can only control the price or the quantity of sales, and not both at once. No close substitution Furthermore, monopoly firm’s goods have no substitutes, its means consumers have no choice other than what is produced by the monopolist and they can’t find any substitute of the product. For example, Telekom Malaysia is a firms that provide home telephone services which has no close substitutes but if the buyer can find another firms that provide home telephone service therefore the product is no longer in monopoly. Restriction of entry of new firms All the competitors are prevented from entering the market due to strict barriers to the entry of new firm. To restrict the entry of new firms into the industry, there are barriers to entry that are natural or legal restrictions. There are no competition faces by monopolist is because of barriers of entry. Advertising A monopolist doesn’t need to advertise their product or services to increase sales because monopolist had the right to control the market and consumers know where to obtain the products and they have no choice to buy from other producer. Monopoly firms that provide local public utilities such as water, electricity and home phone services doesn’t need to advertise since they are the only firms that provide it and customers had no choice to buy it from another firm. Intro to Question 2 It is traditional to divide industries into categories according to the degree of competition that exists between the firms within the industry. There are four such categories. First of all is perfect competition is the market where there is a large number of buyers and seller. The goods sold in the market are homogenous where most of the goods are alike and most likely the same. Therefore, sellers can easily enter and exit from the market. Most of the agricultural goods are included in perfect competition market such as vegetables, fruits, rice, coffee beans, wheat, primary commodities, gold, silver and others.