Oligopolists

Oligopolists

There are four market structures in our economy today : Perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopolies and monopolies. This essay shall describe the oligopoly market.

The definition of an oligopoly states that in an industry, a small number of firms dominate the market. There are a low number of firms in the industry, becasue and adding to the barriers to entry. The barriers of entry to an oligopolistc market include the financial resources needed to enter and such regulations from the government or patents.

In this market, there is a high degree of differentiated products, and so with all of the above factors combined in this market, the competition is of sales, not of price. There is also a factor of concern from the firms in an oligopolistic market - where the actions of one firm will subsequently effect the other firms in the industry. This results in each oligopolist watching its competitors closely, and is a method of competition between the firms, other than by price wars.

The Kinked Demand Curve, is the economical graph that shows why oligopolists tend to adopt a common price -to achieve the greatest price and output. The Hilmer committe, estabilished 1993, is a government body who acts in the interests of recommendations of National Competition policies.

In 1995, the Trade Practises Act (T.P.A.) was introduced. The T.P.A. sets out the general responsibilities of sellers, such as the firms of oligopolies, and out laws actions that may be unfair to the consumers. This includes misleading advertising, market sharing and collusion.

Collusion is where the firms of an industry meet a set, common price, or agree not to come into each other in the market area.