- monopoly
- Absolute control of all sales and distribution in a market by one firm, due to some barrier to entry of other firms, allowing the firm to sell at a higher price than the socially optimal price. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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monopoly mo‧nop‧o‧ly [məˈnɒpli ǁ məˈnɑː-] noun monopolies PLURALFORM1. [countable, uncountable] ECONOMICS a situation where a business activity is controlled by only one company or by the government, and other companies do not compete with it:• The national airline is no longer a monopoly. At least 10 new airlines now compete against it.
monopoly on• For years, it enjoyed a monopoly on oil exploration and production in Argentina.
• The company has been granted a monopoly over Italian high-speed train lines.
• There remains the threat of monopoly.
comˌmercial moˈnopoly [countable] ECONOMICSa situation in which one supplier or buyer can control the price of a type of goods or service :• Between 1770 and 1830, the British East Company had a commercial monopoly over all products coming out of India.
ˌlegal moˈnopoly [countable, uncountable] ECONOMICSa monopoly allowed by the law of a particular countryˌnatural moˈnopoly [countable, uncountable] ECONOMICSan industry where there is only one producer because of the nature of the industry:• Natural monopoly leads to socially inefficient outcomes: too little output and too high a price.
a monopoly that is owned and managed by a government:• For a long time in Europe, broadcasting was a state monopoly, with public service obligations.
• The statutory public monopoly of electricity supply has been ended.
2. have/hold a monopoly on something if one person, group, or organization has a monopoly on something, they have something that others do not have:• This bank does not have a monopoly on bad loans.
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When a single person or organization controls the market for a given product or service.► See also Oligopoly.* * *
monopoly UK US /məˈnɒpəli/ noun (plural monopolies)► [C or U] ECONOMICS a situation in which one company or person or a government has no competition in the sale of a particular product or service and is able to control its supply and price: business/corporate/government monopolies »He argues that farm subsidies help keep agricultural land away from corporate monopolies.
a monopoly of sth »Each firm has a monopoly of goods that tend to be used together.
a monopoly in/on sth »A decision by the Supreme Court struck down the state's monopoly on radio and television stations.
► [C] ECONOMICS a company, person, etc. that is the only one supplying a particular product or service: »The Justice Department is suing the company because they claim that it used unfair tactics to become a monopoly.
► [C] something that is controlled by one person or group and not shared by others: »The network is a monopoly of the state telephone company.
→ See also BILATERAL MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑bilateral monopoly), COMMERCIAL MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑commercial monopoly), LEGAL MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑legal monopoly), NATURAL MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑natural monopoly), PUBLIC MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑public monopoly), STATE MONOPOLY(Cf. ↑state monopoly)
Financial and business terms. 2012.
