Question

Metropolitan Power and Light is a monopoly in the electrical generation and distribution industry. Since it does not face any competition in its industry, it has become quite lax in research and development and has not made any improvements to its efficiency. It also spends lavishly on its corporate retreats because it has a high level of guaranteed profits every year. Its actions are an example of:

Answer 1

Answer: x-inefficiency.

Explanation: Since it does not face any competition in its industry, the actions of Metropolitan Power and Light are an example of x-inefficiency which is a situation in which monopolies find themselves wherein they do not have to act efficiently since they are protected from competitive pressures. X-inefficiency is also applied to analyzing the average costs in imperfectly competitive markets whose average costs are higher than they would be if the market was more efficient.