In economics, a public monopoly or state monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a state agency or a public enterprise is the sole provider of a particular good or service. It is a type of artificial monopoly created by the State.

The state regulation prohibits all competition by economic agents other than the State. This monopoly can be justified for strategic reasons in certain particular cases of natural monopoly; for example, the provision of drinking water. It differs from a tobacconist, because in this the State is not the supplier, but it grants the monopoly to an individual or a private company in exchange for an income to the Treasury. Examples

In many countries, the postal system is run by the State and competition is prohibited by law in some or all services. In the Scandinavian countries, some goods considered harmful are distributed through a state monopoly. In particular, in Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, public companies have monopolies for the sale of alcoholic beverages, casinos and other institutions for betting can also be monopolized.

Likewise, social security systems, where the government controls the industry and specifically prohibits competition, as in Canada, are state monopolies.

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