Technical Change, Barriers to Entry, and Market Structure

Bibliographic Data

ID9727949
AuthorsRichard C Levin (corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume45
Issue180
Pages347
Publication date1978-11-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0427 • E-ISSN: 1468-0335
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2553450
OpenAlexW1971899914
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited6

ration. In seeking to explain the persistence of excess profits, economists typically invoke the concept of barriers to entry. But the standard textbook explanations, drawing on the work of Bain (1956), Sylos-Labini (1962), and Modigliani (1958), fail to confront the issue squarely. The question is inherently dynamic; the answers offered are typically static. The existence of barriers to entry cannot explain the persistence of excess profits, because barriers to entry, even if effective in the short run, tend to be eroded in the face of market growth and the diffusion of knowledge. To explain the persistence of excess profits it is necessary to examine the processes by which barriers to entry are continuously reproduced. One very important mechanism for the reproduction of entry barriers involves technological innovation. In the model developed here, existing firms enjoy a cost advantage over

Barriers to entry · Economics · Face (sociological concept) · Industrial organization · Macroeconomics · Market structure · Microeconomics · Persistence (discontinuity) · Reproduction · Sociology · Technological change · Economic Growth and Productivity · Engineering · ICT Impact and Policies · Regional Development and Policy

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