yeah u will definetly do over this if you do commerce/eco at uni
anyway... perfect competition is an unreachable model...there is no real example of this model in the real world.
it main characteristics include:
- small and many amount of firms which are basically identical in look
- the product they sell are perfect subsitutes for each other
- there is no barrier to enter this industry
- there is perfect knowledge about what the other competitors are doing
- the demand curve for this industry is perfectly elastic, meaning that they are price takers instead of price makers....which monopolists are
next level up is monopolistic competition, very similar to perfect competition
characterisics include:
- small and many amount of firms which are slightly different to each other
- there is advertising which makes the product they are selling look slightly differentiated to their competitors. (a percieved look that is)
- the knowledge is not perfect but most of the firms know what is going on
- there is a cost to enter the industry and to leave the industry
next level up in the models is oligopoly
- more close to a monopoly that monopolistic competiton and good example of this is the car manufacturers
characteristics include:
- large and small number of firms which dominate the market
- their products are highly differentiated (be it perceived - advertising, or real)
- there isnt much price competition as in the long run it is not viable to compete that way, other ways are found...such as reseach and technology
- the barriers to entry are very high....and the oligopolists would probably prevent any newcomers
last, but certaintly not the least monopolies
there are several types of monopolies....natural monopolies and legal monopolies
natural monopolies are generally resource providers (utilities etc), legal monopolies include people who have patents
characterisitics include:
- one large firm which dominates the market
- is a price maker, not a price taker, so it sets its own price to maximise its own profits.
- the demand curve of the firm becomes that of the industry (which is obvious)
- impossibly high barriers to entry
i may be forgetting something but i gotta get back to studying for accounting...got an exam for that tomorrow
cheers