Evaluate To What Extent An Increase In The Concent

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Evaluate to what extent an increase in the concentration ratio of an industry will benefit consumers The concentration ratio measures the extent to which a market or industry is dominated by a few leading firms. It is measured by the percentage share of the largest firm in the industry by gages like employment and sales revenue. The higher the concentration ratio the stronger is the hold on the market held by the leading businesses. Consumer surplus measures the welfare that consumers derive from their consumption of goods and services, or the benefits they derive from the exchange of goods. Consumer surplus is the difference between what consumers are willing to pay for a good or service (indicated by the position of the demand curve) and what they actually pay (the market price). The level of consumer surplus is shown by the ar ea under the demand curve and above the ruling market price. if the concentration ratio increased, then 1 or 2 firms may start to dominate the market and the firms will be able to exercise Monopoly power. This is likely to have many consequences to consumers. Monopoly Diagram In the above diagram the firm maximises profit where MR=MC at output Qm. This output is allocatively inefficient because P > MC. This means consumers may face shortages and prices will tend to be higher, and output lower, than what would exist in a market with low barriers to entry. Also, if the firm faces little competition it will have less incentive to develop new products and respond to the needs of the consumers, leading to less innovation and less choice for consumers. The firm is also productively inefficient, because it does not produce on the lowest point of the AC curve. Monopolies are also often inefficient because with less competition they have less incentive to cut costs, e.g. they may employ surplus labour. These costs are all passed

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