Routledge Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition
countervailing power (J5, L1, M3, P0)
The power of an opposing group, e.g. of a trade union facing a large firm, or of a consumer facing a monopolist or oligopolist.
The best examples of it occur under BILATERAL MONOPOLY. GALBRAITH regarded such power as a means of stabilizing and making fairer the capitalist system.
See also: consumer sovereignty
References
Galbraith, J.K. (1952) American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power, London: Hamish Hamilton; Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
This is the complete article, containing 71 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on Countervailing power
