A monopoly market is a market structure where the entire market is served by one company that is offering a certain product or services. Some monopoly companies are multinational while others operate locally in certain regions. You may be familiar with some companies, especially if you have ever consumed a product or service from them. You may also know others because they are headquartered in your country of residence. Those you are not familiar with are probably yet to establish a substantial global footprint. Below is an expansive list of examples of monopoly companies:
Examples of Monopoly Companies
If the environment allows, any sector can have a monopoly company. However, since dozens of factors come into play for a monopoly to exist, monopolies only thrive in some sectors. Monopolies in most countries predominantly control some sectors because of market entry barriers or regulatory bureaucracies.
- Google Search in Mountain View, California, United States.
- Meta (Formerly Facebook) in Menlo Park, California, United States.
- Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
- USPS in Washington D.C, United States.
- Alko in Finland, Europe.
- Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in Ireland, Europe.
- FIFA in Sweden, Europe.
- Luxottica in Italy, Europe.
- Nederlandse Spoorwegen in Netherlands, Europe.
- PWPW in Poland, Europe.
- Royal Mail Group in UK, Europe.
- Systembolaget in Sweden, Europe.
- Tekel in Turkey, Europe.
- Unilever in UK, Europe.
- Botswana Power Corporation in Botswana, Africa.
- Ezz Steel Rebars in Egypt, Africa.
- Ghana Water Company Limited in Ghana, Africa.
- KPLC in Kenya, Africa.
- POSTA in Kenya, Africa.
- SA Breweries in South Africa, Africa.
- Bangladesh Railway in Bangladesh, Asia.
- Meralco Electric Company in Philippines, Asia.
- IRCTC in India, Asia.
- Meralco YKK in Japan, Asia.
- Tencent in China, Asia.
Regulation of Monopoly
You ask, how does the government regulate monopoly?
1. Legal controls
The government set up antitrust laws to control and discourage any monopoly case. These laws are created to encourage competition and growth for companies. They are also important to help new firms to enter the government. The government also sets up new acts to break existing monopolies, such as the Sherman Antitrust Act.
2. Price Capping
Here, the government set the uppermost price limit beyond which the monopoly should not go through. The monopoly is blocked from increasing prices beyond a reasonable point. Consumers are protected from exploitation by the monopoly in question.
3. Nationalizing a monopoly
Here, the government takes ownership of a monopoly company. The government approaches the private owners and negotiates a purchase deal. In other cases, the government pressures these monopolies to accept subscriptions of shares from the public. Thus, they are operated as limited liability companies.
