monopsony

plural monopsonies

1. economicsA market situation in which there is only one buyer for a product.First known use 1930s

   5 more examples

   Our next task is to consider the change in the amount of a commodity purchased when the market changes from an indefinitely large number of competing buyers to a single buying agency. This may be described as the comparison between competitive and monopsony buying, just as the corresponding comparison for selling was called the comparison between competitive and monopoly output.

   1933, Joan Robinson, “Monopsony”, in The Economics of Imperfect Competition, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, section 2, page 219

   It appears to follow that employment, far from falling, may be raised by an adroitly contrived legal minimum wage or collective agreement. Indeed, this proposition is an important one in the theory of both wage regulation and trade unionism. Its applicability is sometimes limited, however, even when monopsony is significant, by the danger that the employer may be driven out of business completely, as when, because of his own irremediable inefficiency or other objective disadvantages, monopsony profit achieved at his workers' expense is the differential between hanging on and outright failure.

   1971, Martin Bronfenbrenner, “Imperfect Competition and Exploitation”, in Income Distribution Theory (Aldine Treatises in Modern Economics), Chicago, Ill.: Aldine-Atherton, →ISBN; republished Piscataway, N.J.: AldineTransaction, Transaction Publishers, 2007 (2009 (2nd paperback) printing), →ISBN, pages 193–194

   Examples of monopsonies are few. One limited monopsony is the U.S. federal government, which orders certain defense and security systems often with the condition that it be the sole client to be delivered the product, thus a monopsony. […] Indeed, any government is a natural monopsony, at least in some areas. Absolutist, state-run economies, like [Joseph] Stalin's Soviet Union or North Korea, are dominated by monopolies and monopsonies, which often are granted to cronies by those in power. […] In today's commercial markets, there are next to no true large monopsonies.

   2007, Stephen G. Hannaford, “Oligopolies and Oligopsonies”, in Market Domination!: The Impact of Industry Consolidation on Competition, Innovation, and Consumer Choice, Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 15

   For purposes of evaluating monopsony cases from the standpoint of economic efficiency, it makes sense to adopt a "purpose"-oriented classification system. After all, all monopsony cases can be reduced to either a unilateral or collusive use of buying power in order to promote the interests of the buyer.

   2010, Roger D. Blair, Jeffrey L. Harrison, “The Antitrust Laws and Monopsonistic Forms of Conduct”, in Monopsony in Law and Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, section 2.4 (A Taxonomy of Monopsony Cases), page 29

   In a monopsony, the buyer has power over sellers instead of the other way around. Google and Amazon aren't just powerful sellers; they're powerful buyers too. Amazon's reach in the book market gives it enormous power over publishers. Google's monopsonies over search, ads, and video translate into dominance over numerous cultural domains, most directly affecting recording artists, record labels, songwriters, music publishers, journalists, and news publishers.

   2022, Rebecca Giblin, Cory Doctorow, Chokepoint Capitalism […] , Boston: Beacon Press, →ISBN

   Antonyms: monopoly

2. economicsA buyer with disproportionate power.

   The Weyland-Yutani Corporation is an extreme form of what's known in economics as a monopsony.

   2026 April 14, Greg Rosalsky, “The labor economics of 'Alien' — and its lessons for inequality on Earth”, in National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio

   3 more examples

   The result is different when the resource buyer is a monopsony. The monopsony firm is a single buyer, and therefore it faces the market supply curve.

   1978, Roger K. Chisholm, Marilu Hurt McCarty, Principles of Microeconomics, Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman, →ISBN, page 344

   If the takeover is approved, Comcast would control 20 of the top 25 cable markets,[…]. Antitrust officials will need to consider Comcast’s status as a monopsony (a buyer with disproportionate power), when it comes to negotiations with programmers, whose channels it pays to carry.

   2014 March 15, “Turn it off: American regulators should block Comcast’s proposed deal with Time Warner Cable”, in The Economist, volume 410, number 8878, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2014

   Network Rail is a monopsony (the sole buyer in a particular market) and must be careful not to exploit that position.

   2020 November 4, Christian Wolmar, “Hubble trouble: we need co-operation on innovation...”, in Rail, page 49

   Synonyms: monopsonist