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TNB Monopoly in Malaysia

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Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) is one of the monopoly firm operating in Malaysia consumer market. TNB is the largest electric utility company in Malaysia and largest power company in Southeast Asia.  TNB Headquarter, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur TNB Manjung, Perak As we know, TNB is the largest electric power provider in Malaysia and it is also known as one of the monopoly firms in Malaysia. EMIS (2013) also mentioned that TNB has the license to operate the company as a monopoly firm for 21 years initially. Basically, a monopoly firm can be defined as the one and only seller or producer that sells goods or services to buyers or consumers. Since TNB is the only electricity provider in Malaysia, TNB has full control over price. Thus, TNB has the power to increase the price without any valid or reasonable reason; and they would not worry that their customers will run away. This is because there is no close substitute for a monopoly firm and the company can practic...

THE RICE INDUSTRY IS A PERFECT COMPETITION?

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THE RICE INDUSTRY IS A PERFECT COMPETITION? Perfect competition exists when there are a very large number of small firms that operating in the identical(homogeneous) product or services and none of who can be affected by the price by increasing output or restricting it because both buyers and sellers are price takers. Furthermore, the companies have perfect knowledge about costs and prices across the market. Everyone is aware of affirm of everyone else's price and has perfect information on the tastes of buyers. In a perfect competition, there are no barriers to enter. One example of an industry in Malaysia that has perfect competition is agriculture, mainly rice. So, there is several company in Malaysia that produce rice such as BERNAS SDN BHD, FAIZA SDN BHD, NINAMAJU SDN  BHD and others Figure 1: Profit maximization using average and marginal revenue and cost curves     What we can see that perfect competition is never likely to exist ...

GOOGLE AND ITS BAD EFFECT OF HAVING A MONOPOLY POWER

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Google has been negotiating with European regulatory authorities since 2010 in an attempt to settle an antitrust case concerning its search engine, and its third attempt to settle the case has been rejected. Google may also face new antitrust problems over its Android mobile operating system, and it's not alone in facing tough antitrust scrutiny in Europe. Microsoft has also been the subject of a long-running battle in Europe over market dominance issues. But what's motivating this scrutiny from European regulators? What's so bad about a company amassing monopoly power? When firms have such power, they charge prices that are higher than can be justified based upon the costs of production, prices that are higher than they would be if the market was more competitive. With higher prices, consumers will demand less quantity, and hence the quantity produced and consumed will be lower than it would be under a more competitive market structure. The bottom ...

INDIFFERENCE CURVES AND BUDGET LINES

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An indifference curve is a line showing all the combinations of two goods which give a consumer equal utility. In other words, the consumer would be indifferent to these different combinations. Choice of goods with give consumers the same utility APPLES BANANAS 22 17 14 20 10 26 9 41 7 80 Table plotted as indifference curve Diminishing marginal utility The indifference curve is convex because of  diminishing marginal utility . When you have a certain number of bananas – that is all you want to eat in a week. Extra bananas give very little utility, so you would give up a lot of bananas to get something else. Indifference curve map We can also show different indifference curves. All choices on I2 give the same utility. But, it will be a higher net utility than indifference curve I1. I4 gives the highest net utility. Basically, I4 would require higher income than I1. Budget line A budget line shows the combination of goods that can be afforded with yo...

MALAYSIA'S GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

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WHAT IS GST? GST is also known as VAT or the value added tax in many countries is a multi stage consumption tax on goods and services. GST is levied on the supply of goods and services at each stage of the supply chain from the supplier up to the retail stage of the distribution. Even though GST is imposed at each level of the supply chain, the tax element does not become part of the cost of the product because GST paid on the business inputs is claimable. Hence, it does not matter how many stages where a particular good an services goes through the supply chain because the input tax incurred at the previous stage is always deducted by the businesses at the next step in the supply chain. GST is a broad based consumption tax covering all sectors of the economy i.e. all goods and services made in Malaysia including imports except specific goods and services which are categorized under zero rated supply and exempt supply orders as determined by the Minister of Finance and published ...

UTILITY

UTILITY MAXIMIZATION The process or goal of obtaining the highest level of utility from the consumption of goods or services. The goal of maximizing utility is a key assumption underlying consumer behavior studied in consumer demand theory. Consumers are assumed to make choices, especially concerning the purchase og goods, such that they obtain highest possible level of satisfaction. Utility maximization can be achieved at the peak of the total utility curve.          Utility maximization is the guiding notion underlying consumer choices analyzed with consumer demand theory and utility analysis . It makes sense to think that people are generally motivated to do what is best for them, to purchase the most satisfying goods, to make the decisions that do more good than harm, to improve their overall standards and well-being that is, to maximize their utility. Working through the logical consequences of this assumption, when combined with other ...

Budget 2018: Govt reduces individual income tax and theorical effect on tax pay cuts in economic

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The Federal Government will reduce individual income tax rates by two percentage points for 2.3 million taxpayers in the country, especially those in the M40 group, specifically households with income of less than RM9,000. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, during the tabling of the 2018 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat today, said the move would increase the household disposable income of the people from between RM300 and RM1,000, and was aimed at narrowing the income gap in Malaysia. "This means that an estimated RM1.5 billion in disposable income can be spent by the people. With this move, more than 261,000 individuals are no longer subjected to income tax," he said. He further explained the reduction of the individual income tax rate by two percentage points was for income ranging from between RM20,000 and RM70,000. For income ranging from RM20,001 to RM35,001, the rate is reduced from five to three percent; while that ranging from RM35,001 to RM50,000, the redu...