Barriers Of Oligopoly

Economic analysis of a monopolistically competitive industry is more complicated than that of pure competition because:

An oligopolistic market is one that has several dominant firms with the power to influence the market they are in; an example of this could be the supermarket industry which is dominated by several firms such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose etc... Furthermore an oligopolistic market can be defined in terms of its structure and its conduct, which involve various different aspects of economics.

The definition of an oligopoly is the market condition in which the production of identical or similar products is done by a small number of big firms. Oligopolies can be categorized in to two types: homogenous oligopolies where the product is exactly the same (e.g.: steel production)

The barriers to entry are the factors which alter the entrance of potential competitors within any apparel and fashion industry. These barriers act as stops for potential competitors; which are seeking to enter. Some of these barriers to entry within the industry would include:

Oligopolies are a type of market structure evident in Australia, which is comprised of 2 or more firms having a significant share of the market. In an oligopoly the few firms sell similar but differentiated or homogenous products and is characterised by a large number of buyers making it a form of imperfect competition. This market structure is evident through the Big Four Banks, Phone Industry - Vodafone, Optus and Telstra.

The expected retaliation from well-established companies for brand equity, resources, prime real estate locations and price competition are moderately high, which creates a moderate barrier to entry.

Oligopolies have been around ever since there is trade. However, it has only recently gained grounds in this age of globalisation. Never before has oligopolistic competition been so fiercely contested across so many industries.

The article “Beyond United: How oligopolies hurt Americans’ pocketbooks” written by James Downie for The Washington Post discusses the financial issues that arise from oligopoly control. The article explains how, because of mergers, the airline industry has gone from nine major companies to just four. The author argues, “Travelers can’t avoid higher fairs and fees unless they choose not to fly” (Downie). Downie brings attention to the growing profits for the consolidated airline companies while consumers pay the same or higher prices. He also explains how the drug industry operates as an oligopoly with only three companies controlling 75 percent of the market. These three companies control drug prices and touch every wallet in America. Downie

The oligopoly theory is based on the importance of the number of firms in an industry as well as on the nature of a product. In oligopoly, the more similar or homogenous product of different firms is, the greater is awareness of the competitors. In all oligopolistic markets several sellers represent a substantial proportion of total sales. The fewness of the firms is a key characteristic of oligopoly. As a result of the limited amount of companies in the oligopoly industry, the main problem is hidden in the recognition of mutual dependence or interdependence of companies (Lipczynski et al.,

The New York Post’s business article, "Comcast-Time Warner Cable Critics Fired up," written by Claire Atkinson and Josh Kosman, discusses the Comcast and Time Warner Merger. Comcast has a deal with Time Warner that Comcast will pay $48.5 billion for the company. This deal is currently being reviewed by FCC. There is a possible violation of antitrust laws, as this deal may cause Comcast to be a monopoly of the cable industry. Many companies, like Amazon, Netflix, Dish Network, and Discovery Communications, are leading the attack against the merger. Critics of the deal are claiming that Comcast is in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act and the merger will cause harm to competition and consumers (Atkinson). The purpose of this paper is to explain oligopoly, monopoly, and costs because they helped me under stand Atkinson and Kosman’s article.

Market Structure: Meaning, Characteristics and Forms | Economics. (2014). YourArticleLibrary.com: The Next Generation Library. Retrieved 25 April 2016, from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/economics/market/market-structure-meaning-characteristics-and-forms-economics/28736/

Oligopoly has been derived from Greek implying "few sellers". According to Sloman & Sutcliffe (2001) oligopolies are a type of imperfect market wherein a few firms share a huge proportion of the industry. Therefore industries such as oligopolies have dominance of small number of manufacturers which may produce either differentiated or almost similar products. Nevertheless there are differences between perfect oligopolies and imperfect oligopolies. While perfect oligopolies are characterized by firms that produce almost identical products like tea or CDs, imperfect oligopolies differentiate themselves through niche products such as motor cars and aircrafts. Oligopolies are marked by interdependence of firms operating in the market which either collude or compete among themselves. In collusion, firms consent to avoid competition amongst them. A formal collusion is a cartel wherein firms act like a monopolist and earn maximum profits. (Wellmann, 2004, pp: 1-2)

A monopolistic competition describes a common market structure in which firms have many competitors or sellers, but each one sells a vaguely distinctive product or service. One of this market structure’s characteristics is that each individual firm makes independent decisions about price and output, based on its product, its market, and its costs of production (Economics Online, 2015). Another characteristic is there is freedom to enter or leave the market, since there are no major barriers to entry or exit. The opposite of this market structure is an oligopoly. Oligopoly means few sellers. Oligopoly is the market structure in which there are only a few firms or a few firms dominate the market (Amacher & Pate, 2013). In an oligopolistic market, each seller supplies a large

An oligopoly describes a market situation in which there are limited or few sellers. Each seller knows that the other seller or sellers will react to its changes in prices and also quantities. This can cause a type of chain reaction in a market situation. In the world market there are oligopolies in steel production, automobiles, semi-conductor manufacturing, cigarettes, cereals, and also in telecommunications.

“Oligopsony describe a situation where employer market power persists despite competition with other employers--the number of employers does not need to be small.”