Economic Definition of company town. Defined.
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Term company town Definition: A small town closely associated with the production activity by a single firm. The firm is typically the only employer in the town and most of the goods and services sold throughout the town are provided by this firm. Company towns were quite prevalent in the late 1800s and early 1900s during the U.S. industrial revolution, often affiliated with a large mining, lumber, or manufacturing facility that was isolated from major urban areas. The company literally built a town around this facility to provide support services for their employees. The downside, however, was the lack of competition for both the employment of labor (monopsony) and the provision of consumer goods (monopoly). In some cases, the controlling firm exploited its market control creating circumstances not but different from slavery. Such company towns were a key motivation from the formation of labor unions.
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