Question

what prohibits price discrimination

Answer 1

Introduction

Price discrimination is a microeconomic pricing strategy where identical or largely similar goods or services are transacted at different prices by the same provider in different markets.Price discrimination is distinguished from product differentiation by the more substantial difference in production cost for the differently priced products involved in the latter strategy. Price differentiation essentially relies on the variation in the customers' willingness to pay and in the elasticity of their demand. Price discrimination, very differently, relies on monopoly power, including market share, product uniqueness, sole pricing power, etc

Definition

The Robinson-Patman Act is a federal law passed in 1936 to outlaw price discrimination. The Robinson-Patman Act is an amendment to the 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act and is supposed to prevent "unfair" competition.

Price discrimination

A seller charging competing buyers different prices for the same "commodity" or discriminating in the provision of "allowances" — compensation for advertising and other services — may be violating the Robinson-Patman Act. This kind of price discrimination may give favored customers an edge in the market that has nothing to do with their superior efficiency. Price discriminations are generally lawful, particularly if they reflect the different costs of dealing with different buyers or are the result of a seller's attempts to meet a competitor's offering.

Types of Price Discrimination

* First-degree Price Discrimination

First-degree discrimination, or perfect price discrimination, occurs when a business charges the maximum possible price for each unit consumed. Because prices vary among units, the firm captures all available consumer surplus for itself, or the economic surplus. Many industries involving client services practice first-degree price discrimination, where a company charges a different price for every good or service sold.

* Second-degree Price Discrimination

Second-degree price discrimination occurs when a company charges a different price for different quantities consumed, such as quantity discounts on bulk purchases.

* Third-degree Price Discrimination

Third-degree price discrimination occurs when a company charges a different price to different consumer groups. For example, a theater may divide moviegoers into seniors, adults, and children, each paying a different price when seeing the same movie. This discrimination is the most common.

Conclusion

Price discrimination is practiced based on the seller's belief that customers in certain groups can be asked to pay more or less based on certain demographics or on how they value the product or service in question.