The word monopoly comes from Mencius, which says that "monopoly must be sought and made public in order to control the market".
At first, it refers to manipulating trade from the commanding heights of the market, and later it refers to holding and monopolizing.
China has called monopoly "monopoly" since ancient times. In ancient China, salt, iron and tea were monopolized by the government for a long time. Because of huge profits, once the country has a financial crisis, it is inevitable to implement a monopoly system to supplement the shortage of national use.
In capitalist economy, monopoly means that a few large capitalist enterprises manipulate and control the production, sales and prices of goods in one or several departments through mutual agreements or alliances in order to obtain high profits.
According to the provisions of China's Anti-monopoly Law, monopolistic behavior refers to the behavior that excludes or restricts competition and may exclude or restrict competition.
Monopoly industry refers to the situation that there is only one or several manufacturers in an industry or market. Monopoly market refers to a market organization with only one or several manufacturers in the whole industry.
The book "Political Economy" refers to the fact that a few capitalist enterprises manipulate and control the production or circulation of commodities in one or several departments by means of agreements, alliances, alliances, equity participation, etc. with their huge capital and sufficient production and operation scale and market share, so as to obtain high profits.
I. Types of monopoly
Franchise
Some exclusive franchise privileges are stipulated and protected by law, and patent rights and copyrights are monopolies permitted by law. In order to encourage invention, most countries have patent laws, which shows that patent monopoly is caused by legal barriers. In some cases, the government grants exclusive rights to manufacturers; Sometimes the government grants the privilege of exclusive operation by bidding for contracts after competition.
Natural monopoly
If a product needs a lot of fixed equipment investment, and mass production can greatly reduce the cost, then a large manufacturer may become the only manufacturer in the industry. When a large manufacturer supplies all the market demand, the average cost is the lowest, and it is difficult for two or more manufacturers to make a profit in this market. In this case, the manufacturer has formed a natural monopoly.
Strategic monopoly
If no one has certain production technology or know-how except monopolists, the market will naturally form a technological monopoly. In the absence of technical barriers and legal barriers, manufacturers build barriers to establish or consolidate their monopoly position, which is strategic monopoly.
Other monopoly barriers
The above obstacles are not exhaustive, nor are they necessarily mutually exclusive. If the manufacturer controls the supply of a certain raw material. Any barrier that prevents competitors from entering the market is the cause of monopoly.