Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed.

PART 5  Firm Behavior and the Organization of Industry

Chapter 15 of 36  Monopoly

Section 9 of 34

Table 1 here

Marginal revenue for monopoly firms is different from marginal revenue for competitive firms.

When a monopoly increases the amount it sells, there are two effects on total revenue, which equals price (P) x Quantity (Q)

The price effect: P falls, which decreases total revenue.

The output effect: more output is sold, Q rises, which increases total revenue.

For a competitive firm, it must sell at the given market price, so there is no price effect.

When it increases production by one unit it receives the previous same market price for that unit.

It does not receive any less for the units it was already selling.

Because the competitive firm is a price taker, its marginal revenue equals the constant price of its good.

When a monopoly increases production by one unit it must reduce the price it charges for every unit it sells.

This price reduction reduces revenue on the units it was already selling.

Per Table 1, as a result as it increases quantity a monopoly's marginal revenue is less than its price.

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