Skip to main content
Back

Monopsony definitions

Control buttons has been changed to "navigation" mode.
1/15
  • Monopsony
    A market structure with a single buyer, often seen in labor markets, allowing control over wages and employment levels.
  • Labor Market
    A setting where firms hire workers, with supply and demand determining wages and employment quantities.
  • Marginal Cost Curve
    A graphical representation showing how the cost of hiring additional workers increases, especially in a monopsony.
  • Marginal Revenue Product
    The additional value generated by hiring one more worker, forming the basis for a firm's demand for labor.
  • Equilibrium Wage
    The wage rate at which labor supply equals labor demand, typically higher in competitive markets than in monopsonies.
  • Equilibrium Quantity
    The number of workers employed where labor supply and demand intersect, often reduced in a monopsony.
  • Supply Curve
    A graph showing the relationship between wage levels and the quantity of labor workers are willing to provide.
  • Demand Curve
    A graph depicting how many workers a firm wants to hire at different wage levels, based on their productivity.
  • Minimum Wage Law
    A regulation setting a wage floor, which can raise both wages and employment in a monopsony to competitive levels.
  • Competitive Market
    A market with many buyers and sellers, where wages and employment are determined by supply and demand without single-firm influence.
  • Derived Demand
    The demand for labor based on the value of goods and services produced by workers.
  • Profit Maximization
    A firm's goal to hire workers up to the point where the cost of labor equals the value produced by that labor.
  • Wage Floor
    The lowest legal wage that can be paid, often set by government intervention to protect workers.
  • Quantity Restriction
    A reduction in the number of workers hired, resulting from monopsony power over the labor market.
  • Market Power
    The ability of a firm to influence wages and employment levels due to its dominant position as the sole buyer.