Understanding Markets 
                                 
                         EC8005 – Lecture 8 
                               2014 
                                 
                          Michael King 
                                 
        EC8005b Understanding Markets                        1 
                   Course Outline 
    1. Course Introduction 
    2. Demand and Supply 
    3. Market Equilibrium and Applications 
    4. Elasticity and its Applications 
    5. The Consumer and Demand 
    6. The Firm and Supply 
    7. Market Structures 
    8. Markets and States 
    9. Microeconomic Policy Issues in Ireland  
       EC8005b Understanding Markets                      2 
             Topic 8: Market Structures 
    Focus: Treatment of the implications of different market 
         structures.  
     
    Structure:  
    1.   The Market Structure Spectrum 
    2.   Perfect Competition  
    3.   Monopoly 
    4.   Perfect Competition v’s Monopoly  
    5.   Monopolistic Competition   
    6.   Oligopoly and Game Theory 
          
          
        EC8005b Understanding Markets 
     1. Market Structure Spectrum 
    Markets can be divided into categories depending on  
      degrees of competition and market power.  
    Market structure is a function of: 
      1. No. of firms in the market. 
      2. The nature of the product – differentiated (heterogeneous) or 
        undifferentiated (homogenous). 
      3. Extent of information available to market participants. 
      4. Freedom of entry and exit, existence of barriers to entry.   
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      EC8005b Understanding Markets