Definition of oligopoly An oligopoly is an industry dominated by a few large firms. For example, an industry with a five-firm concentration ratio of greater than 50% is considered an oligopoly. Examples of oligopolies Car industry – economies of scale have caused mergers so big multinationals dominate the market. The biggest car firms include Toyota, …
Premium decoy pricing is when a firm set the price of one good deliberately high in order to make other goods appear good value and attractive. For example, a clothes shop may have a few jackets priced at £300. This gives the impression that the clothing brand is high quality. Then they may offer a …
A look at different pricing strategies a firm may use to try and increase profitability, market share and gain greater brand loyalty. Types of pricing strategies General strategies Profit maximisation. One strategy is to ignore market share and try to work out the price for profit maximisation. In theory, this occurs at a price where …
There are a few different reasons firms may put up prices, but in each case, a business will weigh up the pros and cons. Potential reasons for increasing prices An increase in costs of production. A general increase in the price level (inflation) Competitors are increasing the price. Firms believe demand has become more price …
The elasticity of supply measures the responsiveness of a change in quantity supplied to a change in price. If price increases – firms generally find it more profitable to supply a good. So an increase in price leads to higher supply. However, if it is difficult to increase supply (e.g. shortage of capacity, difficulty to …
In economics a shortage occurs when demand is greater than supply, causing unfulfilled demand. A shortage can occur due to Temporary supply constraints, e.g. supply disruption due to weather or accident at a factory. Fixed prices – and unexpected surge in demand, e.g. demand for fuel in cold winter. Government price controls, such as maximum …
An import quota is a limit on the amount of imports that can be brought into a particular country. For example, the US may limit the number of Japanese car imports to 2 million per year. Quotas will reduce imports, and help domestic suppliers. However, they will lead to higher prices for consumers, a decline …
Third Degree Price Discrimination involves charging a different price to different groups of consumers for the same good. These groups of consumers can be identified by particular characteristics such as age, sex, location, time of use. In the real world, third-degree price discrimination is quite common. For a firm to practise price discrimination it requires: …