Profiteering and the degree of monopoly in the great recession: recent evidence from the US and the UK

J R Branston; Keith Cowling; P R Tomlinson

Profiteering and the degree of monopoly in the great recession: recent evidence from the US and the UK

J R Branston, Keith Cowling, P R Tomlinson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

6 Citations (Scopus)

468 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

While the onset of recession may lead some oligopolistic firms to
engage in price-cutting behavior, we argue this is likely to be only a temporary phenomenon. As the recession deepens, firms will find themselves with (unplanned)
excess capacity, which will increase the mutual benefits of collusion and hence the degree of monopoly is likely to rise. To support this proposition, and adopting a largely heterodox framework, we consider some historical evidence and present some recent data for both U.S. and UK manufacturing and UK retail during the current prolonged slump that has been labeled the “Great Recession.” Such behavior has significant implications for economic recovery.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	135-162
Journal	Journal of Post Keynesian Economics
Volume	37
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - Oct 2014

Keywords

Degree of monopoly
price cost margin
economic downturn
collusion
excess capacity

Access to Document

Accepted versionAccepted author manuscript, 745 KB

http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/results1.asp?ACR=pke

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Profiles

Rob Branston

J.R.Branston@bath.ac.uk

Management - Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor)
Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy
Institute for Policy Research (IPR)
Marketing, Business & Society
Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS)
Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG)

Person: Research & Teaching

Phil Tomlinson

P.R.Tomlinson@bath.ac.uk

Management - Professor
Marketing, Business & Society
Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy - Deputy Director
Institute for Policy Research (IPR)

Person: Research & Teaching

Cite this

Branston, J. R., Cowling, K., & Tomlinson, P. R. (2014). Profiteering and the degree of monopoly in the great recession: recent evidence from the US and the UK. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 37(1 ), 135-162.

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