Analysis of Market Structures and Pricing Strategies
The markets today are so complex and deal with so many variables it can be difficult to understand just exactly how they operate. In the following I will reveal the different kinds of market structures along with their different pricing strategies. Relating to these topics, I will focus on the importance of cost, competition and customer. 1. Analysis of different market Structures Different market structures are basically compared by the number of competing firms and the extent of entry barriers. a) A perfect competition structure has zero entry barriers with a lot of firms. This means it has a large number of competitors, with
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Again, with high entry barriers they are not bombarded with other firms coming and going from their market. (Samuelson and Marks, 2010). 2. Analysis of pricing strategies specifically related to each type of market structures a) In a perfect competitive market, the sole determinant of pricing is the market demand and the supply curves. A demand curve refers to the total amount that consumers will pay for their products. The supply curve is the total amount that the producers can actually make to supply to the company at the price they can afford or are willing to pay. Another factor in a perfect competitive market structure is the equilibrium price which is basically when the supply of the market meets the market demand of the consumers. Anther unique feature of a perfect competition market is that it is a price taker. In essence, this means that the company doesn’t have any influence on the price. Again, this can only be caused through a market that has a large number of firms with identical products. (Samuelson and Marks, 2010). b) In a monopolistic competition structure, although there are numerous firms, they carry different products. Due to product differentiation, each company is able to somewhat control their own pricing. c) In an oligopoly structured market, pricing seems to be a bit more complicated. The reason for this complication lies in
In these circumstances, the cost structures are not the same as with the competitive industry and so we cannot say that the oligopolistic firm results in higher prices than if a competitive market structure were to be adopted. In fact going along the theory of the downward sloping cost curve we can come to the conclusion that it would be the other way around and consumers would
To begin with, a monopolistic competition is one of the four major market models. A monopolistic competition is an industry made up of many producers. The producers in a monopolistic competition provide differentiated products. Product differentiation includes varied physical characteristics of products, customer service, and or locational convenience. Differentiation allows firms to be prominent in the industry. Since goods and or services are differentiated, there is a considerable amount of emphasis on non-price competition, advertising. Although the competition is prevalent in this market, entry into the industry is
E., & Gould, J. P., 1966). Furthermore, the members are price takers and do not have the power to influence price changes. We now understand that perfectly competitive markets are very rare and that in reality our product exists in a different type of market. The four types of markets are: Monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition, and perfect competition. Our company has gained enough power in the market to influence price and allow it to choose its own optimal price. This means that establishing an equilibrium where QD = QS does not necessarily apply. Perhaps our company has developed an innovation that makes the quality of our microwave meal much better than our competitors or we have developed a process than drastically lowers the cost of processing the ingredients for our product. Regardless of the reason, our company now has a competitive advantage and we must take advantage of it in order to become dominant in our industry.
Market structure refers to the important features that determine the level of competition in an industry. These factors include (a) the number of buyers and sellers, (b) the products degree of uniformity, (c) the ease with which new firms enter or old firms exit the market, and (d) the ways in which firms in the industry compete with each othersuch as through prices or advertising.
The model of monopolistic competition describes a common market structure in which firms have many competitors, but each one sells a slightly different product. If there was no differentiation, the competition would turn into perfect competition. In effect, monopolistic competition is something of a hybrid between perfect competition and monopoly. Comparable to perfect competition, monopolistic competition contains a large number of extremely competitive firms. However, comparable to monopoly, each firm has market control and faces a negatively-sloped demand curve. Monopolistic competition as a market structure was first
A market is defined as an institution that brings together buyers (demanders) and sellers (suppliers) of a particular good or service. A Market structure is the relationship among the buyers and sellers of a market and how prices are determined through outside influences. There are four different types of market structures. Two on opposite extremes, and two comfortably in the middle. On one end is perfect competition, which acts as a starting point in price and output determination. Pure competition is when a large number of firms sell a standardized product, entry and exit is very easy, and an individual firm cannot control the price. On the other extreme end is Pure monopoly. A monopoly is characterized by an absence of competition, which will often allow one seller to control the market. A Pure monopoly is essentially the same thing, but also includes near impossible entry and no substitute goods. Two more common market structures are monopolistic competition and oligopoly. Monopolistic competition has a large number of sellers producing different products, while an oligopoly has only a few number of sellers producing similar products. All in all pure competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly are all unique market structures with differing characteristics, but have one main goal, profit maximization.
a. The product is identical (ie, aluminum), all the companies procure the same resources to make production with same production line and process. The firms only differentiate in terms of controlling and lowering the variable cost in order to make a profit as a price-takers. Pricing is somehow fix in global level as aluminum is openly traded in the financial market.
there are a number of different buyers and sellers in the marketplace. This means that we have competition in the market, which allows price to change in response to changes in supply and demand. Furthermore, for almost every product there are substitutes, so if one product becomes too expensive, a buyer can choose a cheaper substitute instead. In a market with many buyers and sellers, both the consumer and the supplier have equal ability to influence price.
(1)Perfect competition is the market in which there is a large number of buyers and sellers. The goods sold in this market are identical. A single price prevails in the market. On the other hand monopoly is a type of
The organization and characteristics of a specific market where a company operates is referred to as market structure. While markets can basically be classified by their degree of competitiveness and pricing, there are four types of markets i.e. perfect competition, monopolistic competition, monopoly, and oligopoly. In perfect competition markets, many firms are price takers whereas monopolistic competition markets are characterized by the ability of some firms to have market power. In contrast, oligopoly markets are those in which few firms can be price makers while monopoly market is where one firm can be a price maker.
A pricing strategy is important to any firm in realising its corporate objectives, whether that be its sales revenue, market share or indeed profit, and thus there is much preoccupation within a business about its pricing strategy. Ultimately, this will be guided by many factors; not least the market power it has to set the price of its products and the nature of the demand curve it faces. This essay will attempt to outline how a firm’s pricing strategy is influenced by the characteristics of the market in which it operates, looking at various market structures, including perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly.
I. Explain perfect competition and monopoly market structures, and identify the key factors that distinguish them.
The structure of a market is defined by the number of firms in the market, the existence or otherwise of barriers to entry of new firms, and the interdependence among firms in determining pricing and output to maximize profits. The author of this paper will cover: the advantages and limitation of supply and demand identified in the simulation, the effectiveness of the organization in which the author knows, and how the organizations in each market structure maximizes profits.
Market Structures are determined by the types of firms that are in them. Different firms have different characteristics that make them ideal for different structures. Several factors come into play n determining which market structure a firm belongs to; a firm without competition and can determine prices and output is automatically in the monopoly market structure. Smaller, multiple and similar firms are in a perfectly competitive market and so on. Different market structures employ different pricing strategies. These market structures and their ideal pricing strategies are described below.
Perfect competition is an idealised market structure theory used in economics to show the market under a high degree of competition given certain conditions. This essay aims to outline the assumptions and distinctive features that form the perfectly competitive model and how this model can be used to explain short term and long term behaviour of a perfectly competitive firm aiming to maximise profits and the implications of enhancing these profits further.