Lesson plan
Complementary monopoly
A complementary monopoly is an economic concept. It considers a situation where consent must be obtained from more than one agent to obtain a good. In turn leading to a reduction in surplus generated relative to an outright monopoly, if the two agents do not cooperate. The theory was originally proposed in the nineteenth century by Antoine Augustin Cournot. This can be seen in private toll roads where more than one operator controls a different section of the road. The solution is for one agent to purchase all sections of the road. Complementary goods are a less extreme form of this effect. In this case, one good is still of value even if the other good is not obtained. In a 1968 paper Hugo F. Sonnenschein claims complementary monopoly is equivalent to Cournot duopoly.
Article summary
A complementary monopoly is an economic concept. It considers a situation where consent must be obtained from more than one agent to obtain a good. In turn leading to a reduction in surplus generated relative to an outright monopoly, if the two agents do not cooperate. The theory was originally proposed in the nineteenth century by Antoine Augustin Cournot. This can be seen in private toll roads where more than one operator controls a different section of the road. The solution is for one agent to purchase all sections of the road. Complementary goods are a less extreme form of this effect. In this case, one good is still of value even if the other good is not obtained. In a 1968 paper Hugo F. Sonnenschein claims complementary monopoly is equivalent to Cournot duopoly.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.