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uk

Market Structures

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Market Structures
• Type of market structure
influences how a firm behaves:
– Pricing
– Supply
– Barriers to Entry
– Efficiency
– Competition

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Market Structures
• Degree of competition in the
industry
• High levels of competition – Perfect
competition
• Limited competition – Monopoly
• Degrees of competition in between

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Market Structure
• Determinants of market structure
– Freedom of entry and exit
– Nature of the product – homogenous
(identical), differentiated?
– Control over supply/output
– Control over price
– Barriers to entry

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Market Structure
• Perfect Competition:
– Free entry and exit to industry
– Homogenous product – identical so no
consumer preference
– Large number of buyers and sellers – no
individual seller can influence price
– Sellers are price takers – have to accept the
market price
– Perfect information available to buyers and
sellers

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Market Structure
• Examples of perfect competition:
– Financial markets – stock
exchange, currency markets,
bond markets?
– Agriculture?
• To what extent?

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Market Structure
• Advantages of Perfect Competition:
• High degree of competition helps
allocate resources to most efficient use
• Price = marginal costs
• Normal profit made in the long run
• Firms operate at maximum efficiency
• Consumers benefit

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Market Structure
• What happens in a competitive
environment?
– New idea? – firm makes short term
abnormal profit
– Other firms enter the industry to take
advantage of abnormal profit
– Supply increases – price falls
– Long run – normal profit made
– Choice for consumer
– Price sufficient for normal profit to be made
but no more!

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Market Structure
• Imperfect or Monopolistic Competition
– Many buyers and sellers
– Products differentiated
– Relatively free entry and exit
– Each firm may have a tiny ‘monopoly’
because of the differentiation of their
product
– Firm has some control over price
– Examples – restaurants, professions –
solicitors, etc., building firms – plasterers,
plumbers, etc.

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Market Structure
• Oligopoly – Competition amongst
the few
– Industry dominated by small number of large firms
– Many firms may make up the industry
– High barriers to entry
– Products could be highly differentiated – branding or
homogenous
– Non–price competition
– Price stability within the market - kinked demand
curve?
– Potential for collusion?
– Abnormal profits
– High degree of interdependence between firms

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Market Structure
• Examples of oligopolistic
structures:
– Supermarkets
– Banking industry
– Chemicals
– Oil
– Medicinal drugs
– Broadcasting

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Market Structure
• Measuring Oligopoly:
• Concentration ratio – the proportion
of market share accounted for by top X
number of firms:
– E.g. 5 firm concentration ratio of 80% -
means top 5 five firms account for 80% of
market share
– 3 firm CR of 72% - top 3 firms account for
72% of market share

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Market Structure
• Duopoly:
• Industry dominated by two large
firms
• Possibility of price leader emerging
– rival will follow price leaders
pricing decisions
• High barriers to entry
• Abnormal profits likely

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Market Structure
• Monopoly:
• Pure monopoly – industry is the
firm!
• Actual monopoly – where firm has
>25% market share
• Natural Monopoly – high fixed
costs – gas, electricity, water,
telecommunications, rail

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Market Structure
• Monopoly:
– High barriers to entry
– Firm controls price OR output/supply
– Abnormal profits in long run
– Possibility of price discrimination
– Consumer choice limited
– Prices in excess of MC

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Market Structure
• Advantages and disadvantages of
monopoly:
• Advantages:
– May be appropriate if natural monopoly
– Encourages R&D
– Encourages innovation
– Development of some products not likely
without some guarantee of monopoly in
production
– Economies of scale can be gained –
consumer may benefit

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Market Structure
• Disadvantages:
– Exploitation of consumer – higher
prices
– Potential for supply to be limited -
less choice
– Potential for inefficiency –
X-inefficiency – complacency
over controls on costs

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Market Structure
Price
Kinked Demand Curve

£5

D = elastic
Kinked D Curve
D = Inelastic

100 Quantity

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