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MC = S
AC
D = AR
MC = S
PMONOP AC
D = AR
QMONOP
= supernormal profits
Implications
Monopolists make supernormal profits by
restricting output in order to charge a higher
price
Oligopolists therefore have an incentive to collude
by restricting output to the profit maximising level
under monopoly – implying limited competition on
price
Porter’s 5 forces: Rivalry - a firm is more profitable the
less intense the rivalry among existing firms (monopoly
or if oligopoly -collusion vs. competition)
Collusion implies restrained rivalry
But monopoly and collusion are not in the interests
of consumers
Revision: Monopoly vs. competition
MC = S
PMONOP
AC
D = AR
QMONOP
MC = S
PMONOP
AC
PCOMP
D = AR
QMONOP QCOMP
MC = S
PMONOP
PCOMP
D = AR
QMONOP QCOMP
MC = S
PMONOP
PCOMP
D = AR
QMONOP QCOMP
Sir, Ben Verwaayen, BT Group's chief executive, seems to be suggesting that the only way BT can
make an adequate return is if it remains a near-monopoly provider (Letters, October 6). This may be
an appealing idea to BT and its shareholders, but it most certainly is not in the interests of a
competitive telecommunications market, the UK economy or consumers.
A healthy UK telecoms market depends not on a single provider being profitable but on there being
sufficient competition from a number of players, each with equal access to the monopoly's assets
(assets owned not through investment and risk but paid for by taxpayers before BT was privatised 20
years ago).
A healthy market that encourages innovation from a range of network and service providers will give
consumers a wider choice of improved and keenly priced communication services. UK Competitive
Telecommunications Association members believe that the best way to achieve a genuinely
competitive market is by establishing a genuinely level playing field where all players have the same
opportunities and play by the same set of rules.
What is important is that a level playing field is achieved, an objective that even BT now seems willing
to address. Successful implementation of equivalence will deliver the benefits of breaking up BT but
without the potential attendant disruption. It will also, crucially, avoid perpetuating a market dominated
by a single company.
1 (i) Firms with large market share such as BT gain from their market position if they face limited
competition since this gives them a degree of monopoly power (p. 78). Figure 5 illustrates the profit
maximising position of a monopolist. In Figure 5 the profit maximising output for the monopolist is
Qm and the profit maximising price is P m. The monopolist’s profits are given by the shaded area
given by (Pm – Cm)xQm. As long as price is higher than average cost a monopolist will make
supernormal profits by restricting output to the level at which marginal revenue is equal to marginal
cost. Monopolists can only do this if there are entry barriers preventing them from facing
competition (p. 90-95). If there are no entry barriers then other firms, seeing the supernormal profits
made by the monopolist, would enter the industry, increasing supply and reducing price.
Prior to privatisation BT was a state-owned (nationalised) monopoly but its monopoly power is
gradually being eroded through competition and the regulatory power of the Office of
Communications (Ofcom, previously Oftel) i.e by dismantling entry barriers. According to the letter
in the Financial Times, BT has resisted these changes and this would be consistent with the analysis
above, since competition would be expected to erode supernormal profits.
Figure 5
P
MC
AC
Pm
Cm
MR
AR = D
Q
Qm
(ii) Economic theory implies that it is usually in consumers’ interest for markets to be more
competitive because competition leads to higher output and lower price. The difference between
price and output in a competitive and a monopolised market is illustrated in Figure 6 (which assumes
that average costs are constant – this simplifies the analysis without affecting the results). In Figure 6
AR = D is the monopolist’s and the market demand curve. AC = MC is the market supply curve
under perfect competition. The diagram shows that under monopoly price is P m and output is Q m.
When a market is characterised by perfect competition then price is P c and quantity is Qc. This
shows that under monopoly price is higher and output lower than when a market is characterised by
perfect competition.
The Competition Commission requirement for Tesco to sell the site it acquired when it bought a
former Co-op store in Slough is consistent with this analysis. The Commission argued that if Tesco
retained ownership this would limit the amount of competition faced by Tesco in the area and that
this would be detrimental for consumers since it would give them less choice. Similarly, David
McConnell, Chairman of UK Competitive Telecommunications Association argues that BT’s
resistance to the regulatory changes introduced by Ofcom is not in consumers’ interests.
P Figure 6
Pm
Pc AC = MC
AR = D
MR
Q
Qm Qc
However, the result that consumers face higher prices under monopoly assumes that there will be no
long–run changes in a monopolised industry as a result of process innovation s. These could benefit
consumers by lowering costs and consequently prices.