COMPARING MONOPOLY AND COMPETITION: THE INCREASING-COST CASE

When an increasing-cost competitive industry becomes monopolized, the monopoly will possess some monopsony power in input markets. This paper presents a simple analysis comparing the performance of monopoly and competition in this case. It first assumes fixed input proportions, and then turns to the general case of variable input proportions. With variable proportions, it is shown that the monopoly's marginal cost curve lies above the competitive supply curve but the monopoly's average cost curve lies below it. The welfare cost of monopoly is not identified by the area between the monopoly's marginal cost curve and the demand curve in either case.     

INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND MONOPOLY POWER IN THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Predictions of various models of public sector supply rely on the assumption of bureau monopoly power. This assumption is tested first by measuring industrial structure of the federal public sector using the concentration ratio and Herfindahl index, and second by examining the relationship between the resulting estimates and bureau monopoly power. The findings indicate that monopoly structure of the federal bureaucracy is more limited than is generally assumed. Interpretations on the basis of traditional industrial organization theory and contestable market theory suggest that bureau monopoly power is questionable and may not be the source of observed inefficiencies in bureau supply.     

EQUILIBRIUM PATTERNS OF COMPETITION IN OCS LEASE SALES

An equilibrium model of bidding behavior is developed that accounts for observed fluctuations in the degree of competition to acquire offshore petroleum leases. As one might expect, such fluctuations are related to the heterogeneity of geological prospects that are offered for sale, with a relatively high degree of competition to acquire tracts of the highest quality. The equilibrium configuration of bids is also shown to reflect structural characteristics, such as capital market constraints, that may restrict competition in the lease auction. Empirical evidence is presented which tends to confirm our general theory of bidding equilibria, but which contradicts the popular notion that capital constraints have restricted competition in OCS lease sales. Policy implications are discussed in the concluding section.     

A LONG-RUN VIEW OF GERMAN DOMINANCE AND THE DEGREE OF POLICY CONVERGENCE IN THE EMS

A preliminary for European monetary union is convergence of the European Monetary System's members' policies. Using a cointegration framework with short-term interest rates and monetary bases as monetary policy measures, we find policy convergence has not occurred. Nor, contrary to popular belief, does the Bundesbank dominate other members' policies. Although the Bundesbank is influential, substantial policy interaction occurs among almost all the EMS countries examined. Finally, the "credibility" argument, that pegged exchange rate systems constrain and discipline monetary policymakers behavior, is undermined by our findings.     

A MODEL OF GROWTH AND CONVERGENCE IN THE PRESENCE OF INPUT-ENHANCING FACTORS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

We introduce and estimate a growth model involving non-neutral technical change characterized by the presence of input-enhancing factors that vary across countries and serve to offset (and potentially eliminate) diminishing returns to capital. Our empirical results, however, indicate that diminishing returns to capital proves too strong to be overcome by, say, capital-enhancing factors. Consequently, our model predicts a conditional convergence of output per worker across countries, with the speed of convergence being slower than that found in earlier models involving neutral technical change.     

FURTHER RESULTS ON EQUILIBRIUM PATTERNS OF COMPETITION IN OCS LEASE SALES

A prior model of competitive bidding for offshore petroleum leases is subjected to more extensive empirical testing based on underlying geological data prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey. The current results strongly reinforce the tentative conclusions advanced in the previous paper, and demonstrate the robustness of the model. In light of the current results, it seems very likely that participants in offshore lease sales behave as if their operations were constrained physically such that only a limited volume of petroleum reserves are pursued in any one sale.     

MONOPOLY, MONOPSONY AND CONTESTABILITY IN HEALTH INSURANCE: A STUDY OF BLUE CROSS PLANS

As dominant sellers of health insurance and buyers of health services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield have potential monopoly and monopsony power. The credible threat of entry resulting from the increased competitiveness of these markets in the 1980s may have produced competitive outcomes—reduced prices, improved quality and efficient cost structures—even in a concentrated market. We find the plans used economies of scale and monopsony power to reduce administrative costs, provide payments and consumer premiums. Our findings suggest that steps to enhance the contestability of health markets may be a better response than regulation.     

SPATIAL COMPETITION AND THE PRICE OF COLLEGE

This article provides the first evidence that universities compete directly on price, and that the market for students depends on the proximity of competitors. Exploiting detailed data from private U.S. universities, price competition is tested by introducing geographic proximity into a spatial-autoregressive tuition model. Standard spatial models show that list and net tuition are inversely related to distance between institutions, consistent with price competition in higher education. An extension to the spatial-econometrics literature relaxes a constraint that estimated spatial relationships are common across all observations, implying that spatial effects differ across qualitative classes of institutions . ( JEL C21, I2, L11)     

THE CONSISTENCY OF PERFECT AND MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION

In this paper I have suggested the formal consistency between the models of perfect and monopolistic competition. When products are differentiated only by their quality, the zero-profit equilibrium position of the perfectly competitive firm can be recast diagrammatically in a way which coincides with the traditional exposition of Chamberlinean tangencies. The illusory excess capacity theorem confuses average revenue product curves with demand schedules. These results should hardly be surprising. Indeed, if such a thing as “perfect” competition actually exists (even in theory), it must be conceivable within a model in which firms are allowed to compete in other dimensions as well as price.     

ON THE LONG-RUN EFFECTS OF FASHION

We investigate the long-run dynamic interaction between fashion (brand loyalty) and industry structure. We analyze how this interaction affects the importance of fashion in the market for a product in the different stages of its life and characterize conditions under which fashion loses or preserves its relevance over time. The model can explain why some products survive fashion changes. ( JEL D21, L0)     

THE LONG-RUN LINK BETWEEN MONEY GROWTH AND INFLATION

Is inflation always a monetary phenomenon? Many economists believe that the link between money growth and inflation in the U.S. has weakened over the last two decades due in part to the Federal Reserve's policy experiment in 1979–1982 and innovations in the financial sector of the economy. I find that the long-run relationship between money growth and inflation is strong in a statistical sense and important economically. The key result is that the trend or growth component in CPI inflation is entirely due to the trend component of monetary base growth. (JEL C32, E31, E51)