INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF M. KALETSKY’S “DEGREE OF MONOPOLY” IN MARKET STRUCTURES OF IMPERFECT COMPETITION

Abstract

The article found that, while investigating common economic problems, M. Kaletsky and J. M. Keynes based their research on different methodological bases. The scientist, independently of J. Keynes, came to similar conclusions in the theory of effective demand, but did so somewhat earlier on the basis of the Marxist tradition. It was investigated that the central category of M. Kaletsky’s theory of profit and distribution is the concept of “degree of monopoly”, which connects the microeconomic behavior of firms with macroeconomic consequences. It has been established that the concept of "degree of monopoly" by M. Kaletsky in the context of oligopolistic behavior can be considered as an indicator of the degree of power over the market, as well as the power of the firm over employees, which creates opportunities for an actual reduction in wages and maximization of the profit margin. The institutional dimensions of M. Kaletsky's "degree of monopoly" are formulated in the form of the following key points:
1) determining the degree of monopoly; 2) creating the basis for institutional analysis of specific institutional structures: market structure and processes of concentration, class structure and power, political control and the state; 3) effects of institutional dynamics; 4) institutional aspects of income distribution. The author modeled an abstract theory of transaction costs based on M. Kaletsky's post-Keynesian analytics. It is established that monopoly power creates and uses transaction costs in its interests; it embodies institutional competition. The author concludes that, analyzing under the influence of Marxism the market structures of imperfect competition and investigating the peculiarities of the process of establishing monopoly power in the market, Michal Kaletsky created the concept of "degrees of monopoly", which can be used as a basis for institutional analysis of the market environment. The multi-level approach of the institutional paradigm creates opportunities for involving the concept of "degrees of monopoly" in the study of the distribution of economic activity between the firm and the market within a wide range of contractual alternatives; the study of monopoly power in the market encourages the resolution of the issue of institutional changes.