Monopsony and Competition Law in Indian Context
Can a buyer be the biggest bully? The classical theory of monopsony answers this question. It envisions a market scenario with only one buyer, who can use his leverage to reduce the quantity of product purchased, thereby driving down the price that he has to pay. Seldom does a monopsonistic situation arise in the market, so much so that little has been thought till date about the potential adverse impact of such a scenario on market competition. Another reason for the antitrust analyst’s apparent neglect of the power on the buyer’s side of the market may be that such power tends to reduce the selling price of a commodity, thereby causing a prima facie increase in consumer welfare, which has always been one of the traditional goals of competition law. Classical Monopsony -What does It Entail? Pure monopsony can be looked upon as the demand-side analogue of the monopolist who Continue reading