Monopsony

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /məˈnÉ’psÉ™ni/

Origin

From - Ancient Greek ὀψωνέω (opsōneō, "buy products") + -y.

Coined by classics scholar Bertrand Hallward of Peterhouse College, Cambridge, popularized by economist Joan Robinson in her 1933 book, The Economics of Imperfect Competition.

Noun

1. A market situation in which there is only one buyer for a product; such a buyer.
• 1933, Joan Robinson, The Economics of Imperfect Competition, 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.
2. A buyer with disproportionate power.
• 2014-03-15, Turn it off, 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.

Antonyms

• monopoly