EBK MICROECONOMICS
EBK MICROECONOMICS
21st Edition
ISBN: 8220103960151
Author: McConnell
Publisher: YUZU
Question
Book Icon
Chapter 14, Problem 1DQ
To determine

Why oligopolies exist.

Expert Solution & Answer
Check Mark

Explanation of Solution

An oligopoly is a limited competition market. It may exist because of various reasons. The economies of scale are an important reason for an oligopoly. The economies of scale help the firms to produce at the lowest possible average cost. When the firms are producing at the minimum average cost, it will increase the profit of the firms. Only large firms will have good economies of scale and thus, they can easily capture the market. The small firms and new entrants would require investing more capital in order to get the economies of scale. Thus, the small firms cannot produce at the minimum average cost and as a result, they will be eventually driven out of the market leading to the establishment of the oligopoly.

Branding and advertisements have a high impact on the consumers. They will create a strong preference in the consumers over other products and provide a monopolistic power to the seller. Such huge advertising and branding are not possible for the small firms and as a result, they will have to eventually move out of the market because of the loss of the demand and the revenue which will create the oligopoly.

Many large sellers and producers will merge together in order to further strengthen the economies of scale, which will in turn increase their profits by reducing the cost of production. It will force small firms out of the market, creating an oligopoly.

Important examples for oligopoly products that are common in day-to-day life are automobile manufacturers; the companies that produce automobiles are very few in number. Similarly, gasoline producers are very few in number. Even though there are many companies, the manufacturers of computer chips are very few in number. The manufacturers of mobiles, as well as computer operating systems, are very few in number. These are the examples of oligopoly seen day-to-day.

An oligopoly differs from a monopolistic competition in many ways. The main difference is seen in the number of players. There are a large number of players in the monopolistic competition, whereas there are only few in an oligopoly.

The market power is very small in monopolistic competition, but the market share is very high in the oligopoly market. Similarly, the products in the monopolistic competition are differentiated, whereas they are not completely in the oligopoly. The oligopoly market sometimes sells similar products, too.

By and large, there is easy entry and exit to the market in monopolistic competition. But the entry and exit into an oligopoly has strict barriers.

Economics Concept Introduction

Concept introduction:

Oligopoly: It is an imperfect market condition. There will be a few players in the market. The market will be shared between the few sellers, thus. This is why the market condition is known to be in a state of limited competition.

Want to see more full solutions like this?

Subscribe now to access step-by-step solutions to millions of textbook problems written by subject matter experts!
Students have asked these similar questions
Thanks in advance!
I need help figuring this out. I'm pretty sure this is correct?If Zambia is open to international trade in oranges without any restrictions, it will import 180 tons of oranges.I can't figure these two out: 1) Suppose the Zambian government wants to reduce imports to exactly 60 tons of oranges to help domestic producers. A tariff of ???? per ton will achieve this.   2) A tariff set at this level would raise ????in revenue for the Zambian government.
16:10 ← BEC 3701 - Assignments-... KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY TEACHING FOR EXCELLENCE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE ADVANCED MICRO-ECONOMICS (BEC 3701) Assignments INSTRUCTIONS: Check instructions below: LTE 1) Let u(q1,q2) = ln q₁ + q2 be the (direct) utility function, where q₁ and q2the two goods. Denote P₁ and P2 as the prices of those two goods and let M be per period money income. Derive each of the following: a) the ordinary or Marshallian demand functions q₁ = d₂ (P₁, P₂, M) for i = 1,2 [3 Marks] b) the compensated or Hicksian demand functions q₁ = h₂ (P₁, P2, M) for i = 1,2 [3 Marks] c) the Indirect Utility Function uº = v(P₁, P2, M) [3 Marks] d) the Expenditure Function E(P1, P2, U°) [3 Marks] e) Draw a diagram of the solution. There should be two graphs, one above the other; the first containing the indifference curves and budget constraint that characterize the solution to the consumer's choice problem; the second characterizing the demand…
Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Similar questions
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
Principles of Microeconomics
Economics
ISBN:9781305156050
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Principles of Economics 2e
Economics
ISBN:9781947172364
Author:Steven A. Greenlaw; David Shapiro
Publisher:OpenStax
Text book image
Principles of Microeconomics (MindTap Course List)
Economics
ISBN:9781305971493
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Principles of Economics (MindTap Course List)
Economics
ISBN:9781305585126
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Principles of Economics, 7th Edition (MindTap Cou...
Economics
ISBN:9781285165875
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Exploring Economics
Economics
ISBN:9781544336329
Author:Robert L. Sexton
Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc