维持垄断还是走向竞争?——自然垄断行业分析的一个视角

To Maintain Monopoly or Turn to Competition? ——A Perspective of the Natural Monopoly Industries

在自然垄断行业中维持垄断具有其价值,但也带来一些问题。在自然垄断中引入竞争有充分的必要性,但不一定需要完全并且充分的竞争。政府规制对自然垄断行业是必要的,但因为政府本身及垄断的特性等,存在政府规制的失效,通常通过引入竞争放松政府规制来解决规制失效的问题。在这样的条件下,自然垄断行业的发展应该是走向有效竞争。文章提出的有效竞争实质是促使竞争、垄断和规制三者之间的有机平衡,以追求垄断企业自身成本和社会交易成本最小化。

Maintaining monopoly in the natural monopoly industries has its value, but it also brings about some problems. The introduction of com- petition in the natural monopolies is completely necessary, but there is no need to introduce complete and full competition. Government regulation of natural monopoly industries is necessary. But because of the status of the government and the characteristics of monopoly, government regulation sometimes fails to function. Usually, we introduce competition to solve the problem of regulatory failure. In such conditions, the development of the natural monopoly industries should be towards effective competition. This paper argues that real effective competition should promote organic hal- mace among competition, monopoly and regulation and thus minimize costs of monopoly and social transaction.