When a Natural Monopoly Is Regulated Using an Average Cost

question 247

Essay

When a natural monopoly is regulated using an average cost pricing rule, what can you say about the firm's profit and the market's efficiency?

---

Definitions:

Consumer Demand

The desire and willingness of consumers to purchase a certain quantity of goods or services at various price points, at a particular time.

Competitive Increasing-cost Industry

An industry where supply costs increase as output expands, often because resources become scarcer or harder to obtain as production grows.

Long-run Equilibrium

A state in which all firms in a perfectly competitive market earn zero economic profits, with no incentives for new firms to enter or existing firms to exit.

Decrease in Demand

A situation where consumers' willingness and ability to purchase a product at all price levels declines, represented by a leftward shift of the demand curve.