{"id":698412,"date":"2026-04-01T15:22:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=698412"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:22:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:22:05","slug":"what-are-monopolies-meaning-market-competition-698412","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/what-are-monopolies-meaning-market-competition-698412\/","title":{"rendered":"Why monopolies aren\u2019t a game\u2014and how they shape your life today\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-embed-wrap\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ever Wonder: Are Monopolies Bad?\" width=\"1062\" height=\"597\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wpz4DEF-32M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simon Business School experts explain how market power impacts consumers, workers, and innovation in the modern economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1402,"featured_media":698512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[23322,42792,41792,42782,16072,10406,41012],"class_list":["post-698412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-department-of-economics","tag-elena-prager","tag-ever-wonder","tag-jeanine-miklos-thal","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-simon-business-school","tag-videos"],"acf":{"external":"","hide_featured_image":true,"related":"show_related","style":[625262,681832,653052],"content_modules":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-15","title":"","content":"<h2>Two Simon Business School experts explain how market power impacts consumers, workers, and innovation in the modern economy.<\/h2>\r\nWhen people hear the word \u201cmonopoly,\u201d they often picture a single company dominating a market\u2014maybe even the board game version, with one player scooping up all the properties. But in today\u2019s economy, monopoly power is both less obvious and more complex. At the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\">糖心传媒<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/simon.rochester.edu\/\">Simon Business School<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/simon.rochester.edu\/programs\/phd\/marketing\/faculty\/jeanine-miklos-thal\">Jeanine Mikl\u00f3s-Thal<\/a>, the Fred H. Gowen Professor of Economics and Management, and <a href=\"https:\/\/simon.rochester.edu\/faculty\/elena-prager\">Elena Prager<\/a>, an assistant professor of <a href=\"https:\/\/sas.rochester.edu\/eco\/index.html\">economics<\/a>, study how businesses gain, maintain, and sometimes abuse that power\u2014and why it matters for everyday life, from buying plane tickets and grabbing lattes to downloading apps and securing jobs.\r\n\r\n\u201cFor a long time, antitrust law in the United States has codified the idea that monopolies are bad for consumers,\u201d says Prager. \u201cWe worry about prices going up, we worry about product quality degrading and people having fewer choices and being able to buy less. But that\u2019s not the only set of harms that can happen.\u201d\r\n<h3>What is a monopoly?<\/h3>\r\nStrictly speaking, a monopoly is a market with just one firm selling a particular good or service. But in practice, this does not happen often. In most real\u2011world markets, the concern is less about a single, pure monopoly and more about firms that hold substantial monopoly power\u2014also called market power\u2014because customers lack enough good alternatives.\r\n\r\nEconomists, therefore, spend at least as much time thinking about monopoly power as they do about one\u2011firm monopolies.\r\n\r\nEven where multiple companies exist, warning signs of monopoly power include:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Higher prices than seem justified by costs or technology<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lower quality or chronically poor service<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lack of innovation over time, where a firm seems comfortable and unmotivated to improve its products<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nModern markets provide a range of examples of monopoly power\u2014some rooted in history, others unfolding now:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Standard Oil.<\/strong> In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Standard Oil controlled nearly the entire US oil-refining market, aided by control of pipelines, rail shipping rates, and aggressive tactics toward rivals, until the Supreme Court ordered its breakup in 1911.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>AT&amp;T and the \u201cBaby Bells.\u201d<\/strong> For decades, AT&amp;T operated the US telephone system as a regulated monopoly; antitrust action in the 1980s eventually broke the company into regional \u201cBaby Bells.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Big tech platforms.<\/strong> Companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta dominate search, mobile ecosystems, e\u2011commerce, and social networking, often leveraging network effects, data advantages, and app\u2011store control to maintain their positions.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_698552\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1403\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-698552\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/inline-what-are-monopolies-meaning-market-competition-master-pnp-cph-3b50000-3b52000-3b52100-3b52184u.jpg\" alt=\"Udo Kepler illustration shows Illustration shows a &quot;Standard Oil&quot; storage tank as an octopus with many tentacles wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the U.S. Capitol, and one tentacle reaching for the White House.\" width=\"1403\" height=\"893\" \/> <strong>MONOPOLY MEETS MONSTERS, INC.:<\/strong> Illustration by Udo Kepler showing a \u201cStandard Oil\u201d storage tank as an octopus with tentacles wrapped around the steel, copper, and shipping industries, as well as a state house, the US Capitol, and one tentacle reaching for the White House. (Image courtesy of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/resource\/cph.3b52184\/\">Library of Congress<\/a>)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cIn practice, what\u2019s more likely is that a handful of companies have a dominance and grip on a market,\u201d Prager notes. But big, she emphasizes, does not automatically mean monopolist: \u201cWhat really matters is what you are big <em>in<\/em>.\u201d\r\n\r\nPrager highlights Amtrak as an example. It is by far the biggest passenger rail system in the US, and for long\u2011distance rail travel, it\u2019s the only game in town. \u201cBut taking Amtrak is not the only way to get from point A to point B,\u201d Prager says. Travelers between Rochester and New York City, for instance, can drive, take a long\u2011distance bus, or fly. \u201cIt\u2019s really how easily consumers can switch from the product that you sell to some other product that meets the same needs or a similar set of needs.\u201d\r\n<h3>Multiple companies can act like a monopoly<\/h3>\r\nSometimes a group of firms can behave as if they were one dominant player. A classic example is a cartel, where companies that are supposed to compete instead coordinate their strategies\u2014for instance, by fixing prices, allocating customers, or carving out geographic markets among themselves. \u201cIf they\u2019re making strategic decisions together, they\u2019re functioning like a monopoly,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal explains.\r\n\r\nCartels are illegal in most jurisdictions because they undermine genuine competition and hurt consumers. Famous cases have involved international cartels in chemicals\u2014such as the lysine cartel featured in the 2009 Hollywood movie <em>The Informant!<\/em>\u2014or the global air cargo cartel colluding to fix fuel surcharges instead of truly competing.\r\n<h3>Free does not always mean fair<\/h3>\r\n\u201cIn many digital markets, the problem isn\u2019t high prices for consumers,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal notes. \u201cInstead, the problem can be weak privacy and consumer protection, or high prices charged to advertisers on the other side of the platform.\u201d\r\n\r\nEven though consumers still pay for internet access and devices, many large online platforms\u2014such as search engines or social networks\u2014offer free services on the user side while exercising substantial market power over advertisers, app developers, or sellers. \u201cIf a tech firm has a very dominant position,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal explains, \u201cconsumers may not have a real choice, even if their data is being used in ways they dislike.\u201d\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_698602\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"2000\"]<img class=\"wp-image-698602 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/inline-what-are-monopolies-meaning-digital-market-competition-GettyImages-2184289004.jpg\" alt=\"Close up of a smartphone showing the icons for top social media platforms. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" \/> <strong>IT\u2019S ME, HI, I\u2019M THE PRODUCT:<\/strong> Social media platforms are often free for users. But as the saying goes: If you\u2019re not paying for the product, you are the product. (Getty Images photo)[\/caption]\r\n<h3>How monopoly power emerges<\/h3>\r\nSometimes a company simply builds a much better product or service and pulls away from competitors. \u201cA firm may come up with a great invention that\u2019s hard to copy or just offer exceptionally good service,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal says. A local grocery chain that consistently outperforms rivals can reflect this kind of success.\r\n\r\n\u201cMonopoly \u2018on the merits\u2019 is not something we want to discourage,\u201d she emphasizes. \u201cWe want firms to be allowed to gain market power by innovating and serving consumers well.\u201d\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, some industries are shaped by substantial fixed costs that make it inefficient to have many competing providers. Economists call these <strong>natural monopolies<\/strong>. Examples include:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Railroads and subway systems.<\/strong> It is extremely expensive to lay tracks or tunnels, and duplicating entire networks would be wasteful.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Electric utilities and water systems.<\/strong> Building parallel grids and pipe networks is rarely practical, so a single provider often serves a region under regulatory oversight.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\u201cThe question then becomes,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal says, \u201chow do we design policies so that, even in those cases, consumers are treated well?\u201d Some countries, for example, allow multiple train companies to run services over tracks owned by a single public or private infrastructure operator, creating competition \u201con the rails\u201d even if the physical network is not duplicated.\r\n<blockquote>\u201cEven without explicit coordination, if several competitors use a common algorithm, it might lead them to set prices more similarly.\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\nFinally, <strong>network effects<\/strong> that benefit digital platforms can drive monopolies: The more people use a service, the more valuable it becomes to each user. Social networks become more useful as more friends, family, and organizations join. Smartphone operating systems attract more app developers, which in turn draw more users, reinforcing the leading platforms.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn markets with strong network effects, you often end up with a small number of dominant firms or even one,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal notes. That pattern helps explain why search engines, app stores, and ride\u2011hailing services tend to consolidate around a few global players.\r\n\r\nEconomists generally worry less about the existence of market power and more about <em>how<\/em> it is acquired and defended. \u201cWe\u2019re most concerned when market power is gained through mergers that eliminate competition, or maintained through anti\u2011competitive practices,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal says.\r\n<h3>Monopolies and workers: the mirror image<\/h3>\r\nMonopoly power can also shape workers\u2019 wages, job options, and bargaining power.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn my own work, I spend a lot of time thinking about these less traditional harms of monopolies,\u201d Prager says. \u201cIn particular, I think a lot about labor monopsony.\u201d <strong>Monopsony<\/strong> is the mirror image of a monopoly: Instead of one seller dominating buyers, it is one major buyer dominating many sellers. \u201cNow, instead of having one single company selling stuff, it\u2019s one single company buying stuff\u2014and the stuff doesn\u2019t have to be a physical good,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt can be something like the labor of a potential worker. If I am the only employer in town, I can offer you pretty lousy working conditions and low wages\u2014and you might still come work for me because you have nowhere better to go.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe same competitive pressures that help consumers in product markets apply on the labor side for workers: more options usually mean better pay and conditions.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_698632\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"1000\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-698632\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/inline-federal-trade-commission-antitrust-monopolies-GettyImages-2203982374-2.jpg\" alt=\"Statue of a strong man holding a horse titled &quot;Man Controlling Trade&quot; in front of the Federal Trade Commission building.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1333\" \/> <strong>WORK HORSE:<\/strong> <em>Man Controlling Trade<\/em> by Michael Lantz outside the Federal Trade Commission building in Washington, DC. (Getty Images photo)[\/caption]\r\n<h3>Why breakups are rare\u2014and what regulators can do<\/h3>\r\nIn the United States, agencies within the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission enforce a variety of antitrust and consumer protection laws. But in reality, the federal government has relatively few tools to break up monopolies once they exist. For that reason, most modern antitrust policy focuses on:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Blocking mergers that would unduly reduce competition<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Prosecuting cartels and explicit collusion<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Monitoring dominant firms\u2019 behavior for abuses of monopoly or monopsony power<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ensuring regulators have the resources needed to analyze complex, data\u2011driven markets<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\u201cFirms have strong incentives to increase profits,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal says. \u201cSociety needs institutions in place to ensure that happens through better products and innovation, not by limiting competition.\u201d\r\n<h3>Algorithms, AI, and the future of monopoly power<\/h3>\r\nWith new artificial\u2011intelligence tools and pricing algorithms, a major concern is that competing firms may rely on the same software to set prices.\r\n\r\n\u201cEven without explicit coordination, if several competitors use a common algorithm, it might lead them to set prices more similarly,\u201d Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal points out.\r\n\r\nEarly research and enforcement actions are exploring whether this kind of \u201calgorithmic collusion\u201d could undermine competition in markets ranging from apartment rentals to gas stations to online retail.\r\n<h3>Why the Monopoly board still matters<\/h3>\r\nSo, does the classic board game actually resemble a monopoly?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_641202\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"2000\"]<img class=\"wp-image-641202 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2025-02-27_Monopoly_board_1842.jpg\" alt=\"Monopoly Rochester edition game board.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" \/> (糖心传媒 photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cIf you had a government in the board game <em>Monopoly<\/em>,\u201d says Prager, \u201cit would likely start to block mergers by players who already own too much stuff.\u201d In other words, no one player would be allowed to completely dominate the board. \u201cWhat instead happens in this game\u2014which of course does not have a government, just players\u2014is that a particularly successful or lucky player can keep just buying more and more properties until they own the entire block. And that allows them to jack up the rent prices on everybody else in the game.\u201d\r\n\r\nMonopolies today are less about a single company visibly owning everything and more about subtle forms of power: how it is gained, used, and protected, and whether consumers and workers still have meaningful choices in a dynamic market. If the original Monopoly Man paid homage to the industrial tycoons of the early 20th century, today\u2019s economy features a shifting cast of platforms, brands, and employers all vying for control of the board. For economists like Mikl\u00f3s\u2011Thal and Prager, the real question is how to rewrite the rules so that competition, innovation, and fairness still have a chance to win.","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-15","title":"<h3><strong>Meet your experts<\/strong><\/h3>","content":"<h4><strong><img class=\"alignright wp-image-698782\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/circle-crop_Jeanine-Miklos-Thal_1000w.jpg\" alt=\"Circle crop of a headshot of Jeanine MIklos-Thal.\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/>Jeanine Mikl\u00f3s-Thal<\/strong>\r\n<em>Fred H. Gowen Professor of Economics and Management<\/em><\/h4>\r\nAn expert on game theory and advanced pricing, Mikl\u00f3s-Thal conducts research into industrial organization, digital economics, competition policy, and personnel economics. Her work has focused on cartel pricing, pricing strategies in intermediate-goods markets, the impact of marketing strategies on consumer quality perceptions, and reputational incentives in labor markets. Mikl\u00f3s-Thal serves as a contributor and associate editor of <em>Management Science<\/em> and the <em>RAND Journal of Economics<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/simon.rochester.edu\/programs\/phd\/marketing\/faculty\/jeanine-miklos-thal\">Learn more about Mikl\u00f3s-Thal.<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4><strong><img class=\"alignright wp-image-698772\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/circle-crop-prager_1000w.jpg\" alt=\"Circle crop of a headshot of Elena Prager.\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/>Elena Prager<\/strong>\r\n<em>Assistant Professor of Economics<\/em><\/h4>\r\nPrager is an economist with expertise in antitrust enforcement, collusion, health insurance design, and healthcare prices. As part of her research on antitrust, she has written award-winning work on employer market power, including the effects of employer mergers on workers and the precursors to employer collusion. Prager\u2019s research focuses on policy-relevant topics and is frequently cited by the Congressional Budget Office, Department of Justice, and Federal Trade Commission. She has presented at public-facing policy events and been interviewed by news outlets, including NPR and the <em>New York Times<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/communications\/media\/profiles\/?username=elena.prager\">Learn more about Prager.<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"card_grid","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-15","title":"","description":"","background_color":"#FFFFFF","width":"width-medium","columns":"1","cards":[{"card_title":"<p class=\"u-card-title\">Unabashedly analytical<\/p>","card_text":"From markets to management, Simon Business School researchers and students apply rigorous analysis to advance ideas with real-world impact.\r\n<p class=\"card_cta\">Business done better at URochester<\/p>","card_background_color":"#00205b","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"","url":"https:\/\/simon.rochester.edu\/","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"","card_image":670302,"card_image_size":"image_thumbnail","card_image_placement":"image_left","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""}]}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why monopolies aren\u2019t a game\u2014and how they shape your life today\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are monopolies? 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