Monopoly: Market And Oligopoly

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.

To understand how the collapse of the Repercussion affected the rise of monopolies, one needs to know what a monopoly is. A monopoly is a corporation or company that grew and took over smaller companies. The monopolies controlled the whole market and crushed all competition. There were two kinds of monopolies there are vertical and horizontal. Vertical monopolies controlled all of the companies that led up to the production of

A monopoly is distinguished from a monopsony, in which there is only one buyer of a product or service; a monopoly may also have monopsony control of a sector of a market. Likewise, a monopoly should be distinguished from a cartel (a form of oligopoly), in which several providers act together to coordinate services, prices or sale of goods. Monopolies, monopsonies and oligopolies are all situations such that one or a few of the entities have market power and therefore interact with their customers (monopoly), suppliers (monopsony) and

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.

In this article Michael Baker discusses the livelihood of small retailers in a market subjugated by the financially dominant oligopolies, Woolworths and Coles. While the small independent retailers in direct competition with Woolworths and Coles provide some competitive respite for consumers, as they encourage competitive pricing, albeit predatory pricing, it is clear that Woolworths and Coles control the supermarket industry in Australia, in the formation of a duopoly. It is evident that Woolworths and Coles engage in predatory pricing in an attempt to eliminate independent retailers from the market. This article discusses recent efforts made by the Australian government and the Australian Competition

There are many models of market structure in the field of economics. They include perfect competition on one end, monopoly on the other end, and competitive monopoly and oligopoly somewhere in the middle. In this paper, we will focus on the oligopoly structure because it is one of the strongest influences in the United States market. Although oligopolies can also be global, we will focus strictly on the United States here. We will define oligopoly, give key characteristics important to the oligopoly structure, explain why oligopolies form, then give an example of an oligopoly in today’s economy. Finally, we will discuss the benefits and costs in this type of market structure.

1. Analyze the fast food industry from the point of view of perfect competition. Include the concepts of elasticity, utility, costs, and market structure to explain the prices charged by fast food retailers.

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

Deborah Stone, author of The Market and the Polis, evaluates the premise that public policy making in the government is comparable to a modern day marketplace. The reason being is the market and the polis both see fit to cater to public interest. In the public policy makers case, the goal is to please the constituents so they can be reelected for another term and show that they have accomplished something. For the market place, the goal is to find a competitive balance with ones prices in a balance with other competitors in the market to get as many customers as possible to achieve the most profit. Self Interest is an underlying factor in how successful one is in the market as each the business and consumer is out for the most potential gains.

2. What are the differences among horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate mergers? Provide real-world examples of each type of merger. What policy do you think the US should follow toward mergers? Why?

What is a monopoly? According to Webster's dictionary, a monopoly is "the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a given market.” Such power in the hands of a few is harmful to the public and individuals because it minimizes, if not eliminates normal competition in a given market and creates undesirable price controls. This, in turn, undermines individual enterprise and causes markets to crumble. In this paper, we will present several aspects of monopolies, including unfair competition, price control, and horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate mergers.

Rivalry among industry competitors – Netflix and Blockbuster are in a highly competitive industry. Competitors include merchant retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target; video and game store like Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and Game Stop; supermarkets, convenient stores such as Publix, and McDonald's. The significant rival is Hollywood Video which offers movie and game rentals (Xie & Lin, 2008).

Has the economy ever thought about direct impact from monopoly and oligopoly industries? The structure of a monopoly based industry exemplifies one seller in the entire market. On the other hand, the concept of an oligopoly industry illustrates few sellers that have the potential of making a direct impact in one single industry idea. The economy has depended on the market share of a monopoly and an oligopoly trade. However, a monopoly industry differs from an oligopoly industry due to a monopoly competitor dominates a majority of the market share of many industries and an oligopoly competitor contains few sellers who dominate a market share based on one single industry idea.

Netflix exhibits dominant economic characteristics in the online movie rental business. They enjoy strong market size and growth rate when compared to rivalry competition. The number of rivalries are increasing, and the market remains dominated by only a few sizeable rivalries like Blockbuster Video, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Movies and Movielink’s Downloadable Movies. Netflix is determined to offer new and innovative technology to sustain their competitive advantage.

1. Analyze the fast food industry from the point of view of perfect competition. Include the concepts of elasticity, utility, costs, and market structure to explain the prices charged by fast food retailers.