Learn Economics by Dr. Swati Gupta

­­­­­Price discrimination under Monopoly Price discrimination means selling the same or slightly differentiated product to different sections of consumers at different prices without corresponding differences in cost. Consumers are discriminated on the basis of their purchasing power, geographical location, age, quantity purchased etc. According to Mrs. Joan Robinson, “Price discrimination is the act of selling the same article produced under single control at a different price to the different buyers.” According to Dooley “Discriminating monopoly means charging different rates from different customers for the same good or service.” Thus, when a firm charges from two different consumers different prices for the same good, the firm is practicing price discrimination. An important aspect of price discrimination is that the marginal cost of the two goods must be the same. Examples of price discriminations are: Doctors, lawyers, consultants, etc., charge their customers at dif...

PRICE AND OUTPUT DETERMINATION UNDER MONOPOLY Monopoly is that market form in which a single producer controls the whole supply of a single commodity that has no close substitutes. Spencer  has defined a  monopolist  market in the following words:   "A monopolist market can be defined as one market where there is no perfect substitute for the product of an individual seller so that there is a separate demand curve for the product of each seller in the market" This definition emphasizes two main points: 1-The single producer may be an individual owner or a group of partners. Since there is only one firm under monopoly, that single firm constitutes the whole industry. Therefore, the distinction between the firm and industry disappears under the condition of monopoly. 2- There must not be the close substitutes, i.e, there are no other firms producing a similar product or products varying only slightly from that of the monopolist. For example, there are no...

Market Market structure refers to economically significant features of a market, which affects the behavior and working of firms in the industry. According to Pappas and Hirschey, “Market structure refers to the number and size distribution of buyers and sellers in the market for a good or service.” Characteristics of Markets 1.     Market is not confined to one particular place, but over an entire area where buyers and sellers of a product (or) the commodity is spread over. 2.     Buyers and Sellers must be present, though physical presence is not necessary. In modern times, we sell goods through various types of media: Telephonic Media, Electronic Shopping Markets, Websites, etc. 3.     There must be a commodity that is bought and sold. 4.     There should be free interaction between buyers and sellers so that both agree on one price of the commodity.   FORMS OF MARKET Economists have classified markets...