Behavioural economics – Monopoly, patents and loss of consumer surplus regarding pharmaceutical companies
The intuition of monopoly and of patents as a ‘temporary monopoly’ for drug companies to make their profits back
Discuss the inefficiency of monopoly in terms of loss of consumer surplus by using a diagram in order to argue that from a static perspective awarding patents as a reward for successful innovation is not the most efficient reward.
Welfare effects of monopoly:
Describe the diagram and apply any other relevant diagrams
Key reading material
Microeconomics Paperback book by Goolsbee, Austan, Levitt, Steven D., Syverson, Chad
Publisher: W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd; First international ed edition