The growth of firms

Firms usually start small, often as a one-person concern or a family concern. According to
Barclays Bank, some 465,000 new firms started up in 2003 alone. Sadly, many of these are
doomed to fail. According to government statistics, in 1997, the business survival rate for new
firms was only 65.1 per cent after three years; one third had disappeared in that period. About
half of these close down voluntarily, and about a third sell the business to another firm.
In many cases they are under capitalised, and the firm simply runs out of money and cannot
borrow any more. In some cases it is a management constraint, in that the person is ambitious but
not talented or skilful enough. Virtually all firms have to borrow to invest and grow.
Why do firms wish to grow?
The usual motives are:
To make higher profits.
To establish a business that will see them through life.
To leave a legacy for their dependents and perhaps to establish a dynasty.
Reasons for success are harder to pin down, but include:
Sufficient capital to tide the firm over a bad patch. Access to funds.
Good contacts.
Willingness to work long hours.
Developing a strategy to overcome local or regional disadvantages in location. Developing a
niche market or a unique selling point.
The desire for to grow leads firm to try to increase their share of the market. The really
successful ones may gain economies of scale and a few might become monopolies or be large
enough to compete with the big boys.
4-2. THE MOTIVES OF FIRMS
1. Profit maximisation.
In economic theory, the main motive for a firm is to maximise profits. This is central to
mainstream theory. It involves equating marginal cost with marginal revenue, whatever the
market situation the firm is experiencing.
2. Revenue maximisation
This is another suggested goal. It would be possible for a firm to survive following this goal but
it would grow more slowly and always be a bit at risk. A lusty profit maximiser could seize an
increasing share of the market, possibly driving the revenue maximiser out in the longer term.
Using our diagrams, instead of the firm seeking the point where MC=MR as a profit maximiser
would, the revenue maximiser keeps expanding output as long as marginal revenue is positive. It
ceases to be positive where it cuts the horizontal axis at Q in the diagram below. As soon as it
becomes negative, total revenue would start to fall, so the firm stops.

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In the above diagram, the revenue maximising quantity is thus OQ and the price is then read off
the demand curve: the firm chooses price OP.
Because the firm reduces price until marginal revenue becomes negative, there is an implication
for the elasticity of demand. If a price reduction leads to an increase in total revenue, we know
that demand is elastic. If a price reduction leads to a fall in total revenue we know that demand is
inelastic. As we switch from increasing to falling total revenue, the elasticity of demand must be
neither it is unit elastic at that point.
3. Sales maximisation
This is a third suggested goal. It suffers from the same problem of the revenue maximisers, in
that the firm is vulnerable to profit seeking competitors.
Such a firm will expand output until the average cost curve intersects the demand curve, as in the
diagram below.

The firm produces OQ level of output and sells it for price P. This price is lower than the profit
maximisers price, or the revenue maximisers price as one would expect as more sales is what
it is all about.
A variant of this model is that the firm may concentrate on maximising sales in the short term in
order to gain a larger share of the market so that in the long term it can earn more profits by
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switching its goal. It is a sort of long term profit maximiser using the route of short term sales
maximisation!
Another business variant model of the sales maximiser is that it is possible that when the firm
becomes large, managers are taken on and they may prefer to maximise sales rather than profits.
The shareholders would generally prefer higher profit but they have little say in day to day
running of a company.

The external growth of firms

Mergers
A firm may grow by merging with, or taking over, another firm. There are two directions in
which it can do this: horizontal and vertical. These refer to the position of the other firm within
the structure of the industry.
Horizontal mergers
This is when a firm merges with another at the same level within the industry. As an example, if
one video rental firm takes over another video rental firm. In effect they exist at the same level
and they do the same things. They are probably directly in competition with each other, although
some may be located differently. A recent example of this occurred in 2004 when the
supermarket Morrison took over Safeway; Morrison was strong in the north of England but
lacked southern outlets. It is, as you would imagine, difficult for a supermarket to obtain suitable
land in or near cities, so that a take-over or merger is the simplest way of expanding into a new
area.
Vertical mergers
This is when a firm takes over another which is earlier or later in the production process within
the industry. As an example, a wholesaler of shoes might take over a shoe shop
or chain of shoe shops, in order to provide itself with outlets. This is an example of forward
merger. If it were to take over a shoe manufacturing company, it would be an example of
backward takeover. A current example of a backward merger is the effort in 2004 by the
American Wal-Mart company, trading in Britain as Asda, to develop a close partnership over a
section
of
the
milk
supply
industry
at
the
farm
level.
Some such mergers are an effort to reduce risks and establish a safe source of supply or outlet
chain.
However, many backward mergers by a dominant firm are an effort to reduce competition and
perhaps lead to a later take over the whole industry. Once a wholesaler owns an important
manufacturing unit it can deny the produce to its own more direct competitors or make them buy
on less advantageous terms. There are fears that Asdas recent efforts in the milk chain supply
industry could lead to a less competitive situation.
Conglomerate mergers
This is where a company in one industry takes over one or more companies in a totally
unconnected industry. The result will be a conglomerate, or a company which spans several
unconnected industries. A contemporary example is Richard Bransons Virgin, which began as a
mail order record retailer, then opened a retail store and branched out into running railway trains
(Virgin Rail) and airlines (Virgin Airways). He is also in to book publishing, software publishing,
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clubs, travel, hotels, and cinemas. Some of these have loose connections, others none. In all he
now owns over 150 companies and claims that they all make money.

Multination corporations
Multinational corporations (MNCs) have grown in importance as globalisation proceeded and
they are a factor in encouraging the globalisation process. An MNC is typically a huge
corporation spanning several continents with one home base, which might be in the UK, the
USA, Holland, France, Japan. it can be anywhere but is almost always in the country in which
it first began. Some are the result of mergers, horizontal or vertical, as a company in country A
takes over an existing company in a different country. Others are the result of the original
company in country A investing money in country B to build a factory or firm there.
You will certainly have heard about a lot of MNCs, even if you did not know that this is what
they were! Well-known examples are Ford (motor vehicles), Unilever, Sony, IBM, Philips, and
Reckitt and Colman.
These large companies have huge sums to invest and the world is their oyster. They often try to
locate production where the manufacturing costs will be low, so recipient countries include
places like China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand. Various service centres will normally
be established to cover the different parts of the world.
In the last half of the twentieth century, globalisation was rapid. It was assisted by a huge fall in
the costs of communication and finding information, as well as by tariff cuts and quota
reductions or elimination. MNCs took advantage and grew rapidly as part of this; in addition
they were responsible for pressuring governments to take action, such as tariff cuts, which helped
the MNCs to expand. By the end of the last century, trade between multi-nationals themselves
has been estimated to account for one third of world trade, and another third is made up of trade
by MNCs with non- affiliates. They are indeed major players!
We return to look at MNCs, what they do and the arguments for and against them in Unit
'Globalisation and Protection'.

An introduction to production theory and

costs
Production theory underlies all the theory of the firm, it is related to resource allocation, and it is
where we get the supply curve from.
We assume for simplification:
A one-product firm.
We can identify land, labour and the units of capital used, as well as costs. Land, labour and
capital are homogeneous, which means they are all identical. Firms aim to maximise profits.
Other models do exist, e.g. sales maximisation, but they are not a part of central economic
theory.
Profits
Profits are not a dirty word!
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But what some people will do for profit can be very dirty indeed! It is alleged that the Mafia in
the USA will give you a cheap quote for removing and dealing with your toxic waste - then they
might just tip it into reservoirs to get rid of it, and not spend the money to do it properly.
The function of profits: (what are they for?)
Profits are a signal - a high rate of profit in an industry is a signal that society values that
particular good or service highly and will pay a lot to get it. This tells us that more resources
should go into this industry that society values so much. Individual firms move in to get the
profit and as a result, resources automatically go where they are needed. Adam Smith was the
first to see how a market economy allocates resources and publicise it; and this process was what
he meant by the invisible hand.
Losses are a signal that too much is being produced, that is, output should be reduced. This
means that firms ought to leave that industry, as society does not value that good or service so
highly. Where profits are falling in an industry, it often means that demand has altered away from
that good or service. The lower profits encourage some business people to move out.
The law of diminishing returns says that if one factor of production is increased, while holding
all other factors constant, then after a point, the additions to output will start to fall and
ultimately total output will decrease.
As an example, if you were to take your back garden and turn it to growing potatoes, you might
start, say, with five people (N) plus five spades (K) and your garden (L).
The resulting output may be 100 kg p.a. of King Edwards potatoes.
If you add a 6th person output (but no more spades or land) output might increase to
180 kg the new person can weed or water while the others dig, etc., so output will rise. The
addition to total output is then180-100 or 80 kg. This is the marginal product of the sixth person.
If you add a 7th person, output would still increase, perhaps to 250 kg the addition to total
output is 250-180 or 70 kg, which is the marginal product of the seventh person.
You can see the 70 kg just added is less than the 80 kg added earlier - i.e., the addition to total
output from last person employed is falling, which is to say that returns are diminishing.
You might object that these figures are merely invented which is true. But think! By the time
you get to the 200th person, standing in your back garden and only five spades to work with,
output is not going to be large! It is probably zero, in that there is no room to plant, dig or
anything as your garden is wall-to-wall people! At some earlier point, output must have reached
a maximum then fallen to nothing.
The point where output was at maximum might have been around the fifteenth or twentieth
person, and after this, more people began to be a nuisance. The new person might start to gossip
and distract the others; or perhaps they trip over the new comer now and then, so that output
actually fell a little after he was employed. When total output starts to fall, the marginal addition
is negative, and total output starts to decrease at that point.
This law must hold we can always add enough labourers to completely fill your garden,
however large, and leave no room for growing potatoes at all. The same applies to producing
anything, for example, T-shirts. The table below shows a possible scenario.

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SEEING THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS TO THE FACTOR OF PRODUCTION

LABOUR
Workers
per day
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Output T-shirts
per day
2
0
4
10
13
15
16
14
11

Marginal product
(T-shirts per worker)
3 by (subtraction from col. 2)

Average product
(T- shirts per worker)
4 (col. 2 col. 1)

4 (4-0)
6 (10-4)
3 (13-10)
2 (15-13)
1 (16-15)
-2 (14-16)
-3 (11-14)

4.00
5.00
4.33
3.75
3.20
2.66
1.57

You should observe that in the above table:

1. As we add labour, total product increases.
2. Marginal product rises at first, then falls steadily after that, and finally it becomes negative.
3. When the marginal product is above the average product, average product is increasing; when
marginal product is below the average product, average product is decreasing.
This is the property of averages, it has nothing to do with economics! When the amount added
exceeds the average, it must pull the average up.
Lets take an example of a Premier League soccer team week by week and see the
average, total and marginal scores
Soccer Match: Average, Total, and Marginal Goals Scored
Match Number
1
1
2
3
4
5

Goals scored
in match
2
2
4
1
0
3

Total goals scored

(adding col. 2)
3
2
6
7
7
10

Average goals per match

(col. 3 col. 1)
4
2.00
3.00
2.33
1.75
2.0

Marginal goals
per match (col. 2)
5
2
4
1
0
3

If you examine the table you will see that when the margin is above the average, it pulls the
average up. And when the margin is below the average, it starts to pull it down.
It not only applies to a team scoring goals, or indeed any set of figures, it works just the same
way in production. We can graph this too!
As a firm adds labour, we can show the changes in marginal product (MP) and average product
(AP) in a diagram.
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So looking at the T-shirt example the soccer scoring table you will see that the information on
totals, marginals and averages follows a similar pattern.
The average product and the marginal product curves

We can also draw a diagram of the total product curve.

The total product curve

Why is it that shape?

Before we hire any labour there will be no output, so the curve starts at the origin.
At first, it is easy to produce, we can get the necessary workers and staff we need easily, and so
the output curve increases and also accelerates upwards.
Later on, we will start to encounter problems, so the growth in output slows, then reaches a peak,
and finally will fall.
What sort of problems might be encountered? They could be things like:
We will start to run out of machinery (remember that we are only increasing labour, holding
other factors constant) so that the relationship between the number of workers and the number of
machines gets worse. In simple terms, the balance is wrong. In the example of your garden, the
workers ran out of spades and had to find something else to do you will recall.
The emergence of bottlenecks in the factory storage space for materials, semi- finished and
finished products perhaps.

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Possibly the workers cannot find parking space nearby, which annoys them, and they then feel
disgruntled and lower their efforts. This would not be the law of diminishing returns as such, but
a loss of motivation.
The production function
The production function shows how many of the factors of production we must use to get various
different levels of output. In other words, it shows the relationship between different inputs and
the resulting output.
We can see production function in several ways:
1. We can see it in the generalised form
O = f (L, N, K) + R
(Which means Output is related in some way to the inputs of land, labour, capital and the catchall remainder term).
2. We can see it as the total product curve above. In the diagram, as we increase the use of
labour, we can watch total product increase. This is a simple, one factor model.
3. We can also see it as a box of choices, using two factors of production labour and capital.
The production function as a box of choices
One question is how can we produce using the resources we have got? How shall we combine
them? (this is called the choice of technique).
The firm could use:
1) A lot of capital and a little labour; or
2) A lot of labour and little capital.
Engineering information gives us the figures in the box that might look like: The Box of Choices
Capital (across)
Labour (down)
1 worker
2 workers
3 workers
4 workers
5 workers

1 machine

2 machines

3 machines

4 machines

9
20
26
33*
35

18
27
33*
39
41

26
33*
38
42
44

33*
38
42
45
46

You can see that we can produce 33 units of output in several different ways the firms will
choose the cheapest method or the choice of technique to use, to maximise profits.
If wages are low (relative to the cost of machines) the firm would use as more workers and fewer
machines - four workers and one machine would do it (this is typical of a developing country
like Indonesia).
If wages are high (relative to the cost of machinery) the firm would choose to use more machines
and few workers in this case two machines and one worker (this is typical of a rich developed
country like the UK or USA).

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Cost curves
Some definitions:
Total Cost is what it says total costs are all the costs of the firm (fixed + variable)
Fixed Costs are fixed, irrespective of output; they do not increase as output increases. Examples
are the salaries of the managerial staff, the interest paid to the bank on the money borrowed, or
the local council tax.
Variable Costs alter as output changes. Examples include the need to hire more labour to increase
production; and using more raw materials to go into the extra output. Clearly the variable costs
must rise as output increases.
Average cost is the total cost divided by output.
Marginal cost is the addition to total cost from producing the last unit of output [or one more unit
it is at the margin.]

For all the theory of the firm, and all market conditions, the AC and MC curves look the same
you can always start by drawing the AC and MC CURVES without even thinking!
Why are the shapes that way?
When MC is below AC it pulls it down; when MC is above AC it pulls it up. This means that the
MC curve must cut the AC curve at the lowest point.
The AC curve is U-shaped because when starting to produce, the fixed costs must be born by a
few units of output, so average costs must be high; as the firm produces more, the fixed costs are
spread over more units of output, so AC falls. Then it reaches a minimum. Eventually the firm is
trying to produce more than it was designed for, and average costs start to rise.
We can depict this as the mirror image of average and marginal products as physical output
increases so costs fall, but as average product and marginal product fall, so costs must rise.

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Occasionally there might be a question in an exam asking about the relationship between the
two.

The different possible market conditions

The theory of the firm covers perfect competition, imperfect (or monopolistic) competition, and
monopoly. These are increasingly less competitive in the order listed. Oligopoly is considered to
be something of a special case.
The Arrow of Competition:

As just pointed out, all firm diagrams start the same way!

The equilibrium position is where marginal cost = marginal revenue!

Why? Logic! If a firm is profit maximising, it continues an action, like expanding output, until it
costs more to do it than it brings in as revenue. As long as revenue exceeds costs, it pays to go on
doing it. As an example, if total revenue is 2,000 and output is such that the last unit sold
increased costs by only 1,500 it clearly added
500 to revenue more than it cost to build and was worth doing. And another unit might add
1,900 to costs but sold for 2,000 so was also worth it. The next unit, however, might add
2,050 to costs but bring in 2,000 a loss of 50 so it would not be worth it. When the last unit
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just adds 2,000 to costs and brings in an extra 2,000 it is marginal it makes no difference if
we produce that last one or not.
So what do we know?
The cost at the margin (the addition to total cost from the last unit produced)
increases as production rises (the MC curve).
The revenue from the last unit sold is the marginal revenue (MR).
Logic tells us that the firm will continue expanding output and watching MC rise until it equals
what the firm receives from the marginal unit sold (MR). Therefore when MC = MR it is the best
the firm can do, so it stops there; it is in equilibrium.
We use the MC curve to trace what happens if a firm changes its output level, for that very
reason.

Perfect competition
Perfect competition is defined as a situation where there:
Are many small buyers and sellers (firms) each too small to affect the price the firms are
"price-takers".
Is a homogeneous product [all are identical].
Is free entry and exit. This means that firm can join or leave the industry it is both
allowed and costs nothing.
Is perfect knowledge.
If we take out perfect knowledge (which never exists in the real world) and leave the first three
assumptions, we get "pure competition. It is less than perfect, but is still very competitive.
The diagram of an individual firm:

Equilibrium is where the marginal cost curve, MC, cuts the price line, P1. In perfect competition
any of the tiny firms can sell more without having to lower its price it is too small to affect
price! This means that the price line above is the marginal revenue also. The firm always gets the
same price at the margin.
The price line is also the average revenue in perfect competition. Its just the maths.
Total revenue = P x Q
Average revenue = TR Q
Clearly if we multiply P by Q then divide the result by Q we must end up with P again!
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Perfect competitors are price takers!

The price is set at the industry level by the total supply and demand curves, in the normal way.
Each firm must accept it because the industry is made up of lots and lots of small identical
firms; none can affect price.
The price is set in the industry by the demand of the consumers cutting the industrial supply
curve. Where does this supply curve come from? We get it by adding up all the MC curves of
each little individual firm in the industry. All these MC curves added up are the industry supply
curve as long as we are in perfect competition!
How price is set at the industry level:

And the small individual firms are price takers because they are too tiny to be able to change it and there is no point selling it for less than they could get.
If demand for the product increases in the industry, it causes an increase in price and firms move
up the MC curve.
Q. Why the MC curve?
A. As was said above, because the firm is interested in increasing output as long as it brings in a
greater revenue than it costs to make the extra bit.
How an increase in demand in the industry affects the perfectly competitive firms:
We first change the price in the whole industry as demand has increased then trace
this over to see what it would be like for an individual firm. The increased demand in the
industry causes price to increase; each small firm enjoys this sudden increase in price - and of
course its profit increases. The firm then increases output in order to benefit from as a high a
profit as it can manage.

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Above the equilibrium point where MC cuts the price line P1 (which is also marginal revenue
and average revenue as explained earlier), the firm makes more than its normal profit. You can
see that at P2 it is operating above the average cost curve. Normal profit is built into the average
cost curve without it the firm goes bust! Above the AC curve, the firm makes excess profits
or above normal profits. However, firms can earn above normal profit like this in the short
term only.
Why is this? The above normal profit immediately attracts other firms to enter the industry. After
all, they have perfect knowledge which means they know about it!
And the free entry and exit proviso means they can race in! And this means extra output, i.e., an
increase in supply at the industry level, so price starts to fall back.
This process bids away the profits all the way down to where we started where MC = MR = AC
= P1. So in the long term, under perfect competition, no above normal profits are possible.
Q. Can you take the diagram above, draw it for yourself, then increase the supply curve until P2
falls back to P1? Try it now!
What happens if price falls below AC? At this level, all the firms lose money and continue to do
so until some firms go out of business. When they do, supply decreases, so that price starts to
increase, and this continues until the price is back to the original equilibrium position.
Average variable costs versus average total costs
Average variable costs must always be covered (they go directly into the particular item one is
selling); but average total costs are different. Average total costs include all kinds of things, like
new toner for the computers printer these do not go directly into any particular item, they just
have to be covered in the long run. So a firm can continue in business in the short run, as long as
average variable costs are covered, even if average total costs are not. Anywhere between A and
B in the diagram below, the firms are covering the variable cost of production and earning a little
extra
towards covering the long term total average costs. So it is worth staying in business for some
time and hope that market conditions improve (prices rise) so that they will return to profitability.
[This is a common multiple choice question].

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The advantages of perfect competition

Resources are allocated in the most efficient way to meet market demand and maximise
consumer satisfaction.
- This means that market mechanism works better.
It is the cheapest way of using the factors of production we have.
- Which says that we are at the lowest part of the AC curve.
There is no cost of advertising, selling, marketing, or motions. These are often a form of waste to
society as a whole, though beneficial for individual firms.
Rapid change is possible to meet new consumer demands it is very flexible. The interests of
producers are the same as for consumers.
Freedom to choose exists.
It avoids all the wastes of monopoly.
It prevents the emergence of a few rich and powerful people (Conrad Black? Robert Maxwell?)
There are a lot of firms, all small, so that no major powerful personality can rise and dominate
others.
The disadvantage of perfect (or pure) competition
It produces what is demanded under the given distribution of income. We can imagine a scenario
with a very few rich people with pet dogs or cats which dine extremely well on chicken and the
like, while the masses starve.
Spillovers and externalities can exist. These are costs caused to others, e.g. the disposal of
nuclear waste or toxic chemicals by dumping them in streams.
No economies of scale possible - all the firms are too small.
Perfect competition is consistent with a limited choice of range of goods; monopolistic
competition may have a much wider range. An example is motorcars there are an awful lot of
different models and competition is much less than perfect.
Little or no research and development is possible because there are no funds for it. Under perfect
competition there are no surplus profits (in the long run they are whittled away!) R&D is
possible under monopoly because of the surplus profits available.

Monopoly
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(the left hand end of the arrow of competition)

(There is some overlap between Unit 2 and Unit 4 on monopoly, so this may seem familiar to
you.)
WHAT IS A MONOPOLY
Definition: Technically it is a sole supplier, i.e., there is one firm in the industry. It is
the industry.
But there are degrees of monopoly - if one firm supplies, say, 80 per cent, it is close to a
monopoly and will usually act like one.
Types of Monopoly
Economies of scale. One firm grows large, its cost curves are lower than the others, so it is able
to sell more; in the end it grows to become the sole firm. This is the so-called natural monopoly.
2a) The law. The government may restrict the industry to one nationalised firm. An example was
British Steel some decades ago in the UK.
2b) Regulations. A trade union may have a monopoly over the supply of one kind of labour the
British Medical Association covers all doctors for instance.
Agreement between firms, so that they all act together and behave as one monopolist. This is
often illegal but it happens.
Exclusive ownership of a unique resource. As an example, all the known
supply of iron ore in Australia was once in the hands of a company called BHP; similarly De
Beers diamond mining once virtually controlled all (and still controls a lot) of the international
supply of diamonds.
Copyrights, patents and licences are particular forms of this exclusive ownership.
Marginal revenue and monopoly
Marginal revenue is the addition to total revenue from the last unit sold.
A perfectly competitive firm can sell as much as it wants at an unchanged price. Its MR curve is
equal to the price every time it sells one more item it receives, say, an additional 50 pence,
which adds 50 pence to TR.
A monopolist is the industry, so it faces a normal downward sloping demand curve.
So if wants to sell more of the good or service it must lower the price.
And of course it must sell all its products at that lower price. This means it loses by selling the
items it used to sell earlier at a higher price at the new lower price.
So the price of the marginal product is not the MR the firms total revenue increases by less
than this sale, because of the bit it lost on the price on all the other products.
See the example in the table below.
AS INCREASE
QUANTITY
1

MUST LOWER
PRICE ()
2

TOTAL REVENUE
ALTERS (PxQ) ()
3 (1 x 2)

MARGINAL
REVENUE ()
4 (by subtraction in 3)

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7

7
6
5
4
3
2
1

7
12
15
16
15
12
7

7
5 (12-7)
3 (15 -12)
1 (etc)
-1
-3
-5

Note that marginal revenue is less than price for all quantities after the first one.
Monopoly equilibrium
Equilibrium is where MC = MR, as usual. When you are drawing the diagram and answering
questions you should locate that point first and draw it in.

Seeing monopoly profits in the diagram below

Profits = total revenue minus total cost. Total revenue = price times quantity. Total cost = average
cost times quantity.
Total revenue = the area 0 P A Q. Total costs = the area 0 AC B Q.
So profit is the difference between these two areas = P A B AC.

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Problems with monopoly, what is wrong with monopoly or "the welfare effects of monopoly"
A monopoly limits output and keeps price high.
A monopoly redistributes income from all the consumers to this one firm or person (an equity
issue).
Monopolists may develop political and social power over others, which reduces the efficiency of
democracy and is inequitable. There are political dangers of a few very rich and powerful people
(Marx called them monopoly capitalists who misuse their position and exploit people).
A monopoly may behave badly in an anti-social way. For instance it may force out a rival firm
by selling its product at give-away prices, well below cost and taking the short term loss. After it
has forced out the competitor, it will then put the price back up again. This behaviour may or
may not be legal. It depends on the country involved and its legislation but it is always
reprehensible.
The lack of competition tends to promote inefficiency, the company rests on laurels, there is no
need to try hard, and it lacks dynamism. This is probably the main criticism said Austin
Robinson
The result is lazy managers and owners.
This means that technical progress is reduced, leading to slow economic growth of the country
and a lower standard of living than we could have.
Resources are misallocated. Too many go to the monopolist and they are not fully used by him.
This is a waste for society and in addition, the price mechanism is prevented from working
properly.
A monopoly reduces consumer choice. There is no one else to buy from and no other producers
product.
A monopolist may ignore small market demands as he cannot be bothered to meet them. You will
recall that I mentioned earlier that Henry Ford is supposed to have said about his motor cars
You can have any colour you want, as long
as its black.
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The long run effect from the existence of monopolies is slightly slower growth;
a lower standard of living; higher unemployment (because the monopolist restricts output and so
requires fewer people); higher prices (which monopolies charge); a slightly poorer balance of
payments as a result of this; a less equal income distribution; and poorer resource allocation.
Benefits of monopoly there are not many really, but some case can be made.
A monopolist can use monopoly profits for research and development, leading to product
improvement, faster growth, and lower costs, despite the argument above that they are inherently
lazy.
- Joseph Schumpeter argued that they are important for innovation; he felt that big firms are the
only ones that are able to afford the necessary laboratories, equipment and research staff.
- Against this, research exists that shows many of the breakthroughs come from small firms, for
example Apple began making those computers in a garage.
Monopolists may be able to reap economies of scale, for example the Royal Mail; the provision
of telephone lines; the supply of electricity; the supply of gas; and the provision of railways.
Economies of scale mean lower costs (although the monopolist Royal Mail is notoriously
inefficient in the new millennium).
A state monopoly may be safer than a private one. A private monopoly may be more tempted to
cut corners and reduces necessary maintenance to lower costs, and this could be particularly
serious in some areas like the railways or air traffic control.
A reminder: are you revising something and practicing drawing diagrams each day?

Imperfect competition or monopolistic

competition
(The bit in the middle!)
What is monopolistic competition?
It is defined as a situation where there are:
Many buyers and sellers of that type of good or service (= competition). Free entry and exit (=
competition).
But each with its own brand of the good or service (= monopoly on the brand name).
So each faces a downward sloping demand curve for its branded product (= a monopoly on the
brand name).
Notice the mixed elements of both monopoly and competition, hence the name
monopolistic competition. You know it makes sense!
Where is the long-run equilibrium position?
At the tangent of the demand curve and the average cost curve, as in the diagram below.

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Q. Why is equilibrium tangential?

A. Because of the assumptions of strong competition.
If the firm improves the product, e.g. suddenly changes the colour to a currently fashionable one,
the demand for the product will increase from D1 to D2 in the diagram below. This allows the
price to increase to P2 and more units are sold (OQ2) and hence higher profits are made in the
firm.
Why is the new price at P2?
We read off the new equilibrium position from the intersection of the marginal revenue curve
(MR2), (which relates to the new demand curve D2) with the marginal cost curve (MC). This
intersection determines the quantity that it is most profitable to produce, which is OQ2. Then we
just go straight up and read the price the firm will set from the new demand curve. Why from this
curve? Because the demand curve is the curve that relates price to quantity, you will remember,
and we have just determined the quantity.

The firm is then getting monopoly profits and the equilibrium diagram to reveal these is the
same as the standard monopoly diagram. The profits are the area P A B AC in the diagram below.

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But these monopoly profits can occur in the short term only!
The higher profits and visibly higher price draw the attention of competitors who can compete by
colouring their product also!
The demand for the original product then falls back.
Q. How far does it fall?
A. Until the monopoly profits are eroded to zero when competitors stop coming in! So in long
run there can be no monopoly profits the equilibrium position is always
tangential!
NOTE the price in equilibrium: it is on the average cost curve but is above the marginal cost
curve. (Multiple choice questions might ask about this!)
Problems with monopolistic competition
There are wastes of time and effort the firm will worry about the actions of competitors.
There are wastes of resources, for some are underused. You can see this because where we are
operating is not at the bottom of the average cost curve and excess capacity exists.
There may be too much product differentiation; the firm may pretend its product is better but it
may merely be different.
There are the wastes of advertising.
There may be other promotional wastes, like free gifts, 2-for-1 offers, or competitions to get a
trip to Spain etc. instead of lower prices or better quality. Running such schemes does use real
resources.
The benefits of monopolistic competition
It is very competitive the firms watch their competitors very closely.
This competition drives firms along and there is strong endeavour to improve quality and design,
as well as to lower price.
Free entry and exit keeps the level of competition up.
Variety is great, there is more choice and hence, we assume, greater consumer satisfaction. Some
however argue that there may be too much choice which can confuse and irritate people rather
than help them.
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On balance, there is a lot of monopolistic competition in the real world; some argue it is the
mainspring that drives the economy forward by producing new goods, cheaper goods, better
goods - or at least different ones.

An introduction to efficiency
There is some overlap with Unit 2 about efficiency, so some of this you may already know.
The types of efficiency in economics:
a) Allocative efficiency. b) Productive efficiency.
This concept of efficiency is static. Static efficiency looks at given resources and tries to get the
most output from them and all firms should sell at a fair price to consumers, which would
reflect the real resources used.
A. Allocative efficiency
This occurs when the value the consumer puts on a good or services is identical with the cost of
resources used in producing it. This happens when price = marginal cost. In this situation, total
economic welfare is maximised.

At A, with P2 and Q2, MC = P we have allocative efficiency.

In the perfect competition diagram below, where MC = MR for the firm, we have allocative
efficiency because firms marginal revenue is the price, so MC = P.

The consumer surplus and the producer surplus

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You will recall these concepts which were introduced in Unit 1. If you have forgotten, go back
and look it up now, before reading on.

Here we are in perfect competition with price P pc and quantity Q pc.

There is allocative efficiency in a perfectly competitive industry and price equals marginal cost.
Note that the whole of the area between the supply curve and the demand curve is taken up by
the consumer surplus and the producer surplus.
This is not the case in the monopoly diagram below. In contrast, in that diagram that area is not
all taken up by the two surpluses. You can see the triangle of dead weight loss that goes neither
to consumer surplus or producer surplus and so is lost to
society! We do not have allocative efficiency (where MC=MR) because the monopolist limits
output and sells at a higher price in order to maximise profits.

The deadweight welfare loss under monopoly is the small triangle as indicated.
B. Productive efficiency
This kind of productivity exists when we are on the production frontier; this means we are using
the least resources possible to produce any given output. This also means that we are at the
minimum point on the AC curve.
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This happens when we are in perfect competition so economists prefer this state and may refer
to as it X-efficiency it is where we are truly efficient.
Where market equilibrium is efficient, we cannot make someone better off without making
someone else worse off (this is sometimes called the Pareto optimum position).
Note that we can have allocative and productive efficiency but still have inequity. As an example,
if you as an individual have all the income in the suburb in which you live, the other people
living there will be poor and might even starve! The market system is amoral i.e., it is not
concerned with good or bad.
Social efficiency matter too!
We might produce too much or too little for our own good as a society, even if have perfect
competition and an acceptable distribution of income. This can happen because of the existence
of externalities. The state might intervene and try to encourage all positive externalities and
reduce the negative ones.
Recall the discussion in Unit 2 about externalities, social costs, and private costs. If you are less
than certain about these, now would be a good time to go back and revise that part of the course.
Here as a reminder are the two diagrams involved.
Negative externalities cause the social cost curve to be above the private cost curve.

Positive externalities (usually harder to find) cause the social cost curve to be below the private
one.

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An introduction to price discrimination

Definition: price discrimination is the charging of different prices to consumers for the same
good or service in order to increase profits.
1. First degree price discrimination:
This means that a firm can charge each consumer the maximum s/he would be willing to pay. If
perfect price discrimination occurs, it means that the entire consumer surplus is extracted by the
producer, and so it falls to zero.
If we think of the demand curve and price starting to fall price in blocks of one unit Q1 and P1,
the producer can extract the area above equilibrium, which, say, is at P3.

Many companies that supply homes with electricity use this method the first block of units is
expensive, then the units get cheaper as the family uses more electricity over the month. Check
your electricity bill at home and see if it is happening to you!
2. Second degree price discrimination:
This occurs when a firm sells at its profit maximising position, and finds it has some
goods/services left over, so it sells this surplus more cheaply to others.
This is commonly done with airline seats and hotel rooms have you heard of lastminute.com?
Look it up on the internet there are bargains to be had! You might also encounter cheaper
cinema seats on one day of the week, or perhaps in the afternoon but not the evening.
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Where second degree price discrimination exists, fixed costs typically are large, and marginal
costs are low or perhaps virtually constant.

Here the firm first produces where MC = MR (at Q1 and sells at P1). Marginal costs are constant
think of empty airline seats where the marginal cost is tiny; it is the cost of one more meal and
a miniscule extra amount of fuel.
The company can increase its profits further by selling the first quantity at the high price OP1,
then expanding its output to Q2 and selling the remainder for price OP2. The computer programs
the airlines use are sophisticated, and can offer seats at different prices, starting a bit below P1
and reducing all the way to P2, to earn more money. On any full commercial airline, the
passengers are normally paying a whole variety of prices for this reason.
3. Third degree price discrimination:
This is often called the price discriminating monopolist.
This happens where a monopolist can sell at different prices in different markets. To occur at all,
it requires three things:
There is a monopolist.
The markets can be kept separate.
There are different elasticities of demand in each market.
The consumers in the market with the most inelastic demand always face a higher price.
We locate the marginal cost in the usual way, from the monopoly diagram. We then apply that
MC to both the separate markets. Because each separate market has a different demand curve
and elasticity, they have different marginal revenue curves. Putting this another way, once we
know the actual MC figure, we can trace it across
to both markets, see the intersection with the MR curve in each, and set the price in each. This
will be different in each market because the elasticities are different.
We determine the overall MC=MR position on the left hand side of the diagram below. Then
once we have the MC point established, we read this MC across to where it cuts the individual
MR curves in the first two diagrams. That point determines the price in each market, reading up
off the demand curve in those separate markets.

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The market with the relatively inelastic demand always has the higher price. This is expected as
the greater the inelasticity, the more people want to buy it and are prepared to pay that much
more for it.
This situation of different elasticities is typical of foreign markets and home markets. In the
world in which we live, for most goods and services the demand in the global market is more
elastic than in each domestic market. This is because competition is greater at the global level the whole world competes! Therefore, firms that export often charge more in the home market
(where the elasticity of demand is lower) than abroad.
Any multiple choice question or data response question about different prices in different
markets will be about the first, second or third degree discrimination possibilities. You just have
to think about it and decide which one it is, unless the question makes it clear upfront.

Pricing strategies
Pricing strategy and promotions
These never exist with perfect competition as all firms are price takers! There is no need to
advertise ones own product as the tiny firm can sell all that it can produce at the same market
price.
Under monopoly there is some need to advertise to keep the product name alive; some of the ads
might be of the Our Company is really nice type which you will see on TV now and then.
Oligopolistic firms very commonly advertise because they have a competitive structure and a
downward sloping demand curve. They have constantly to compete with their rivals.
With monopolistic competition there is also a lot of advertising, again because of the very
competitive structure and the downward sloping demand curve for their product.
Cost-plus pricing
The price is set as the average cost of item + a percentage mark-up.
Predatory pricing
This is when a firm deliberately makes a loss by charging a low price in the short term in order to
drive out rivals or new entrants; in the long term this means higher profits for the firm as it can
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enjoy a higher price. It also means an easier life with fewer worries about the actions or reactions
of rivals.
Limit pricing
This can be a feature of oligopoly: the firms may try to prevent new entrants by agreeing on a
price that they will all charge. It will ensure that they all make good profits but not maximum
profits. The price and profits are not quite high enough to attract other firms to the industry but
will be above those set in perfect competition.
Advertising and sales promotion policies
Advertising is designed to move the demand curve outward and to the right. It may also serve to
make the demand curve for the firms product less elastic when compared with competitors
curves. This means a higher price can be charged and more revenue and profits gained.
Non-price competition
One often sees this with supermarkets. It may include:
Special promotions. These may take the form of competitions where one has to send in two or
more box tops to enter; or special offers like 2 for 1 a form of price competition that can
stopped and started easily without changing any printed advertising material.
Home delivery.
Store loyalty cards (which also track what each customer buys and how often, which is most
useful information for the store).
Extended opening hours, including Sundays and holidays. Selling petrol on the forecourt.
Services such as a chemist being available, dry-cleaning, or photo-printing.
Internet shopping facilities.
Contestable markets
This occurs where we have a monopoly or oligopoly, but that has few or no barriers to entry and
exit. This can force the firm(s) to keep price reasonably low and competitive in order to prevent
others entering. So although it may be a monopolist it does not actually behave like a monopolist
and therefore does not enjoy high monopoly profits.
William Baumol invented the model. He saw such firms producing at the bottom of their average
cost curve. They have to be efficient or other firms would enter.
For policy purposes, it means it may be better to consider reducing the barriers to entry and exit
rather than focussing on the degree of competition or market concentration ratios as we usually
do.
Barriers to entry include:
High sunk costs (fixed costs).
Whether a firm can lease equipment or not. If it is possible to lease, then a new firm can enter or
an existing one leave easily, because it does not have to buy or sell the aeroplane or whatever is
necessary.
Advertising and brand recognition. It is harder to break into an industry if there is a well-known
product already dominating it.
The existence of over-capacity which was deliberately built so that the existing firm can flood
the market quickly with more products at lower prices, if a new entrant tries to get in.
Predatory pricing. The simple undercutting of the newcomer until he goes bankrupt.
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Game theory
This was developed to show what happens in a situation where when one firm makes a decision,
it has to consider the possible reactions of others to that decision.
Game theory is particularly useful in the oligopoly area where the reactions of others are central.
The Prisoners Dilemma is a nice model which shows that competition can sometimes be bad,
but cooperation can be good. Here is an example.
Two men, Arnold and Brian (i.e., A and B), are arrested for robbery with violence and
interrogated separately.
The police say to each that we are certain that we can get a conviction, but:
If neither of you confesses each will be charged with robbery and will definitely get twelve
months in jail.
If you both confess then you will each get eighteen months.
But if you alone confess, you will be let off with a caution but the other will get three years in
jail. Now, can you trust your friend? If he confesses and you dont, you will be eating a lot of
porridge. Why not confess now?
A problem!
It is tempting for Arnold to confess and hope that the other doesnt! Then A gets let off scot-free.
But if both confess, Arnold knows he will get eighteen months!
If he refuses to confess, he will get twelve months in jail if the other keeps quiet
but he will get three years jail if the other confesses!
Clearly both are better off if neither confesses (eighteen months each).
But for either alone the dominant strategy (roughly the best bet) is to confess
(because he gets let off free if other does not confess).
However, if he does not confess but the other does it means the full three years! So each is really
pressured to confess even although it is better for both the accused if neither does!
What can we learn from the Prisoners Dilemma?
Collusion would solve the problem! If the two involved could discuss it and agree, neither would
confess! Both would gain the most that way.
And collusion is common in oligopoly!
Price wars with oligopoly:
If there are two firms, it is best if neither starts a price war if they co-operate and keep the price
high, that is as good as it gets.
Lets think of an example. Assume that currently each sells 10 units at 4 each, so total revenue
is 40 for each firm or 80 in total. But if firm A cuts his price to 3 he hopes to sell, say, 17
units at 3 and his total revenue would then be 51, a distinct improvement. The other would of
course be able to sell fewer items. Possibly he might be able to sell 4 units or so at the unchanged
price of 4, so that his total revenue would be $12 with much reduced profits.
The total revenue of both together is $51 + $ 12 = $63 (and remember it was previously $80!) As
a pair they are losing out, even if one does better.
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Then B might respond: it is tempting for B to cut his price perhaps to 2.50 and hope to sell a lot
more.
This process might continue with both firms cutting prices in turn, and both losing out even
more. Game theory suggests they would be better off to collude and go back to the original
situation of a price of $4 each and total revenues of $80 for the two, or
$40 each!
4.11 OLIGOPOLY - THE KINKED DEMAND CURVE
The concept was invented to describe the observed stickiness in prices under oligopoly, i.e., to
answer the question Under oligopoly, why do prices alter infrequently?
The theory was developed that when an oligopolist had already set a price, he was reluctant to
change it. He felt that if he increased his price, he would lose business to his rivals and
competitors (who would make no changes in their price) and so profits would fall. However, he
felt that if he lowered price to in- crease his sales, his competitors would follow suit, reducing
their prices also, so he would not be any bet- ter off. Indeed selling at a lower price, his profits
would fall. So if a price rise or a price reduction could easily reduce his profits, he would do
neither. Hence the price would remain unchanged for long periods.
If we put this in graphical form, we can see that we start at his current price, chosen randomly in
the dia- gram, and look at what he expects to happen if he alters his price.
1. He feels that a price increase would lower profits. This would happen if the good faces an
elastic demand. So above his existing price we see an elastic demand curve.
2. He feels that a price reduction would lower profits. This happens if the good faces an inelastic
de- mand. So below his existing price, we see an inelastic demand curve.
If we draw this, we observe the following.

The marginal revenue is the addition to profit from the marginal unit sold (commonly seen as the
last unit sold). As price is reduced, the marginal unit sells for less than the previous unit sold
indeed for less than all the previous units sold. So the firm loses revenue from all the earlier units
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as well as the current one. For this reason, marginal revenue is always below the demand curve
but they both start together on the very first unit sold. (When the first unit is sold at the price X,
the addition to total revenue is also X). The marginal revenue curve falls faster than price
because of the loss on all the earlier units, once the price of the marginal unit is reduced.
If we put in the marginal revenue curve and a couple of marginal revenue curves, we see the
follow- ing.

The maximum profit point is where the marginal cost equals marginal revenue. If we start with
MC1 we see the MC curve cuts the MR curve in the vertical part and price will be P (reading off
the demand curve
the curve that relates quantity to price).
If costs fall to MC2, the price remains the same, P, because we MC2 still cuts the vertical part of
the MR
curve, so the optimum quantity and price is unchanged.
This means that price does not alter much, because if we move the marginal cost curve up or
down from wherever it is, it always cuts the marginal revenue curve in the vertical part on the
kinked demand curve.
Hence we see sticky prices under conditions of oligopoly - according to the theory of the kinked
demand curve.
Criticisms of the Kinked Demand Curve
It does not explain why the price is where it is! This is a major hole in the kinked demand curve
as a general theory as it only shows us why price does not alter much. In its defence, it was not
de- signed to be a general theory.
In the real world, price changes seem more common than the kinked demand curve theory suggests that it should be. Prices do alter!

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The theory may be more beloved of examiners (many of whom like setting it) than a realistic
description of the world. After all, the firm can always try to increase or reduce price and see
what happens!
If it gains, good; if it does not gain it can go back to the original price. This is an easy theory to
test for
the firm so there is no reason to think the owner just sits there and worries that he would lose if
he chang- es his price.
4.12 REGULATORY CAPTURE
What is it?
It is part of the economics of regulation. We are aware that some leading members in industry
and
commerce, left to their own devices, are likely to behave in ways of which society disapproves.
In the absence of regulation and inspection, some members will engage in price fixing and
collusion, bribery of government officials, lie to customers, break various laws, such as dumping
waste produce in National Parks, and the like.
What does society do to try to protect itself and the general public?
The government frequently establishes one or more regulatory bodies to oversee the industry and
try to control it, in order to protect society as a whole.
What often happens?
The body in charge gets taken over by various vested interests until the regulatory body
eventually starts to work for the vested interests and ceases to protect society. In other words,
there has been Regulatory capture. In a less extreme form, the regulatory body may not be
entirely taken over, but a cosy relation- ship between the body and the industry tends to build up
over time so the policing powers become weak. There is always the risk of total capture but
many economists feel that this extreme position is perhaps not all that common.
How can the body be influenced or captured in this way?
The industry is likely to have a lot more money than the government body and so can hire more
and better staff.
The regulatory body frequently consists of members who have several jobs or advisory
positions, and can devote only limited time to the work of the body. The industry, by contrast,
can employ full-time workers to try to present a better case and improve the position of the
industry.
The industry can pay for research that demonstrates what a good bunch they are and how well
they behave.
The industry can lobby individual Members of Parliament (and offer inducements for support,
some of them not entirely legal).
The industry can plant articles in newspapers and elsewhere that support their case.
The appointments to the regulatory body are often top civil servants who know and have
worked with leading members of the industry and so have already developed a friendly
relationship.
Examples

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 It has been alleged (NB I suggest you ALWAYS put in this phrase when you are writing about
the
issue in public; it can protect you from being sued by powerful people!) the UK governments
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is effectively promoting the
pharmaceutical industry in its efforts to sell drugs and increase profits, rather than protecting the public and
helping to keep down the drugs bill of the National Health Service..
It has been alleged that the Food Standards Agency does not work hard to stamp out additives
to foods that might be dangerous to children, including some that promote hyper-activity and
poor learning. It is suggested that the Agency tends to pass the buck to the equivalent European
body, as well as to the parents of the children, rather than act to improve things themselves.
What might be done to improve the situation and break the cosy relationship between a
regulatory agency and the people it is supposed to police?
It might be possible to:
Insist that all appointees to a regulatory body are approved by, say, a Parliamentary committee.
Not to allow top civil servants to leave and join the industry (e.g., when they retire) until, say, 4
years have elapsed.
Regularly change the members of the regulatory body, to prevent cosy relationships developing.
Not allow inspections of companies in the industry by single inspectors but insist on at least
two, in order to make offers of bribes or other inducements more difficult.
Rotate the teams of inspectors, so that on each visit the industry has to deal with new people.
Protect whistle blowers people who reveal what is actually going on. Experience suggests that
whistle blowers regularly do badly once they have revealed an unpalatable truth; they are infrequently promoted; they are often given poor references should they leave; and their names might
even appear on secret blacklists.
Names associated you can quote the names in exam answers
Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations was the first to point out that when business people meet
up they tend to collude to raise prices.
Richard Posner, at the University of Chicago, is a main name in the regulatory capture debate.
He argued that regulation is not really about serving the public interest (although it should be)
but the process actually serves the interests of many, all of whom seek to promote their private
interests.

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