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9.5: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    215649
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    Example and Directions
    Words (or words that have the same definition) The definition is case sensitive (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] (Optional) Caption for Image (Optional) External or Internal Link (Optional) Source for Definition
    (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") The infamous double helix https://bio.libretexts.org/ CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen
    Glossary Entries
    Word(s) Definition Image Caption Link Source
    allocative efficiency producing the optimal quantity of some output; the quantity where the marginal benefit to society of one more unit just equals the marginal cost        
    barriers to entry the legal, technological, or market forces that may discourage or prevent potential competitors from entering a market        
    copyright a form of legal protection to prevent copying, for commercial purposes, original works of authorship, including books and music        
    deregulation removing government controls over setting prices and quantities in certain industries        
    intellectual property the body of law including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secret law that protect the right of inventors to produce and sell their inventions        
    legal monopoly legal prohibitions against competition, such as regulated monopolies and intellectual property protection        
    marginal profit profit of one more unit of output, computed as marginal revenue minus marginal cost        
    monopoly a situation in which one firm produces all of the output in a market        
    natural monopoly economic conditions in the industry, for example, economies of scale or control of a critical resource, that limit effective competition        
    patent a government rule that gives the inventor the exclusive legal right to make, use, or sell the invention for a limited time        
    predatory pricing when an existing firm uses sharp but temporary price cuts to discourage new competition        
    trade secrets methods of production kept secret by the producing firm        
    trademark an identifying symbol or name for a particular good and can only be used by the firm that registered that trademark        
    Example and Directions
    Words (or words that have the same definition) The definition is case sensitive (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] (Optional) Caption for Image (Optional) External or Internal Link (Optional) Source for Definition
    (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") The infamous double helix https://bio.libretexts.org/ CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen
    Glossary Entries
    Word(s) Definition Image Caption Link Source
    acquisition when one firm purchases another        
    antitrust laws laws that give government the power to block certain mergers, and even in some cases to break up large firms into smaller ones        
    bundling a situation in which multiple products are sold as one        
    concentration ratio an early tool to measure the degree of monopoly power in an industry; measures what share of the total sales in the industry are accounted for by the largest firms, typically the top four to eight firms        
    cost-plus regulation when regulators permit a regulated firm to cover its costs and to make a normal level of profit        
    exclusive dealing an agreement that a dealer will sell only products from one manufacturer        
    four-firm concentration ratio the percentage of the total sales in the industry that are accounted for by the largest four firms        
    Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, HHI approach to measuring market concentration by adding the square of the market share of each firm in the industry        
    market share the percentage of total sales in the market        
    merger when two formerly separate firms combine to become a single firm        
    minimum resale price maintenance agreement an agreement that requires a dealer who buys from a manufacturer to sell for at least a certain minimum price        
    price cap regulation when the regulator sets a price that a firm cannot exceed over the next few years        
    regulatory capture when the supposedly regulated firms end up playing a large role in setting the regulations that they will follow and as a result, they “capture” the people usually through the promise of a job in that “regulated” industry once their term in government has ended        
    restrictive practices practices that reduce competition but that do not involve outright agreements between firms to raise prices or to reduce the quantity produced        
    tying sales a situation where a customer is allowed to buy one product only if the customer also buys another product        

     


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