BARRIER TO ENTRY

barrier to entry.An economic factor that makes it difficult for a business to enter a market and
compete with existing businesses.
“Strictly speaking, a barrier to entry is a condition that makes the long-run costs of a new
entrant into a market higher than the long-run costs of the existing firms in the market; a good
example is a regulatory limitation on entry. The term is also used, more questionably, as a
synonym for heavy start-up costs.” Richard A. Posner, Economic Analysis of Law § 10.8, at 227
(2d ed. 1977).[Blacks Law 8th]