Barriers to entry: related pages

A market in which there is only one supplier of a product or service.

Where an oligopoly exists, a few large suppliers dominate the market resulting in a high degree of market concentration.

Cartel

A group of firms acting together to restrict prices. Most commonly, a group of producers agree not to sell below a given price to give themselves monopoly pricing power.

Cross licensing

Exchange rights to patent portfolios, which reduces litigation and R & D costs, while simultaneously erecting barriers to entry.

Network effects

Effects which cause the value of a product to its consumers to increase if it is more widely used.

Capital intensive

Requiring high capital investment relative to the size of the business. Such businesses will tend to face high depreciation charges and operational gearing.

Intellectual property

Patents, copyrights and trademarks.

Regulatory capture

The dominance of regulators by those they regulate rather than the public good they ostensibly serve.