1. Chapter 7 Section 1 Perfect Competition

2. Key Terms and Definitions
Perfect competition- a market structure in which a large number of firms all produce the same product.
Commodity- a product that is the same no matter who produces it, such as petroleum, notebook paper, or milk.
Barrier to entry- any factor that makes it difficult for a new firm to enter a market.
Imperfect competition- a market structure that does not meet the conditions of perfect competition.
Start-up cost- the expenses a firm must pay
before it can begin to produce and sell goods.

3. Perfect Competition 1) Need to have many Buyers & Sellers
2) Sellers offer identical products
3) Buyers & Sellers are
well informed about products
4) Sellers are able to enter and exit the market freely

4. Imperfect Competition
Barriers to entry- are factors that make it difficult for new firms to enter a market.
1) Start-up Costs- The expenses that a new business must pay before the first product reaches the customer.
What sort of costs are there?
2)Technology or Knowledge: Do you
understand the process by which your
goods or services are produced?

5. Commodity
A product that is the same no matter who produces it, such as petroleum, notebook paper, produce, or perhaps milk.
Understand that there are, for instance, different kinds of milk, but generally we buy milk not by brand but by price.

6. Chapter 7 Section 2- Monopoly
Monopoly- a market dominated by a single seller (p. 156)
Economies of Scale- factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises (p. 157)
Natural Monopoly- a market that runs most efficiently when one large firm supplies all of the output (p. 158)
Government Monopoly- a monopoly created by the government (p. 159)

7. Chapter 7 Section 2 – Monopoly (cont’d)
Patent- a license that gives the inventor of a new product the exclusive right to sell it for a certain period of time (p.159)
Franchise- the right to sell a good or service within an exclusive market (p. 159)
License- a government-issued right to operate a business (p.159)
Price Discrimination- division of customers into groups based on how much they will pay for a good (p. 163)
Market Power- the ability of a company to change prices and output like a monopolist (p. 163)

8. Monopolistic Competition
Chapter Seven Section 3
Monopolistic Competition
and Oligopoly

9. Monopolistic Competition
A market structure in which many companies compete to sell similar but not identical items.
Goods are similar enough to be substituted for each other, but are all individually different.

10. Four Conditions Four conditions of monopolistic competition:
Many Firms
Few Artificial Barriers To Entry
Slight Control Over Price
Differentiated Products

11. Many Firms not marked by economies of scale or high start-up costs.
firms can start selling goods and earning money after a small initial investment
new firms spring up quickly to join the market.

12. Few Artificial Barriers To Entry
Patents do not protect anyone from competition, either because they expired or because each firm sells a product that is distinct enough to fall outside the zone of patent protection.
Just like perfect competition, monopolistically competitive markets include so many competing firms that competitors cannot work together to keep out new competitors.

13. Slight Control Over Price
Have some freedom to raise and lower their prices because each firm’s goods are a little different
some people are willing to pay more for the difference.
monopolistically competitive market firm has only little control over it’s prices.
Customers will substitute another manufacturer’s products if the prices get too high.

14. Differentiated Products
Firms have some control over selling price because they can differentiate, or distinguish, their goods from the other products.
The main difference between perfect competition and monopolistic competition is differentiation
monopolistically competitive seller profits from differences between his or her products & competitors products.

15. Non-Price Competition
Characteristics of Non-Price Competition:
Physical Characteristics
Location
Service Level
Advertising, Image, Or Status

16. Oligopoly A market dominated by a few large, profitable firms.
Oligopolies usually occur if four largest firms produce 70 to 80 percent of all the output.
They may set higher prices, lower output
They may help create barriers to entry

17. Oligopoly- Problems Cooperation Collusion Cartels
Price war - a series of competitive price cuts that lowers the market price below the cost of production (p. 171)
Price Fixing- an agreement among firms to charge one price for the same good (p.171)
Collusion
an agreement among firms to divide the market, set prices, or limit production (p. 1 71)
Cartels
a formal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production (p. 171)

18. Monopolistic Competition
Comparisons
Perfect Competition
Monopolistic Competition
Oligopoly
Monopoly
Number of Firms
Many
A Few
One
Variety of Goods
None
Some
Price Control
Little
Complete
Barriers to Entry
Low
High
Examples
Wheat, Stock
Jeans, Books
Cars
Public Water

19. Chapter Seven Section 4
Predatory pricing -selling below cost to drive competitors out of the market.
Antitrust laws -laws that encourage competition in the marketplace.
Trust -like a cartel, an illegal grouping of companies that discourages competition.
Merger -combination of two or more companies into a single firm.
Deregulation -the removal of some government controls over a market

20. The Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman antitrust act was one way the government tried to regulate big business. This act was passed in 1890 but was not enforced until Theodore Roosevelt took up office in This law outlaws mergers and monopolies that restrain trade between states.

21. The Clayton Antitrust Act
Outlaws practices that limit competition or lead to monopoly.
This law was passed in 1914 & helped to expand government control of big business.

22. The Robinson-Patman Act
The Robinson-Patman act defines & outlaws several forms of price discrimination.
Celler-Kefauver Act
The Celler-Kefauver act allows government to stop mergers that could hurt competition.

23. Examples of government intervention:
(1974) department of justice sues to end AT&T’s monopoly over local phone service
AT&T agrees to break up its local phone service into several companies.
In 1999 a federal judge finds that Microsoft is a monopoly.