Monopolist’s mark-up and the elasticity of substitution
Abstract
This paper analyzes the mark-up of the price of a product over marginal costs
for a monopolist using Appelbaum’s theoretical model. The profit maximization model of an industry that uses the monopolist’s product as its input is formulated. Our goal is to express the monopolist’s mark-up as a function of the elasticity of substitution for the respective industry and to analyze how changes in the elasticity of substitution affect the mark-up ratio. Consequently, the CES production function along with its substitution parameter is chosen. An analytical description of changes in the elasticity of substitution and its influence on the monopolist's mark-up is given. All scenarios are supplemented by geometrical illustrations, economic interpretations and numerical examples.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
