Differentiating Between Market Structures
Differentiating Between Market Structures
Alana Campbell, Dale Fortune,
Katrina Beyah, Leonard Cooper
University of Phoenix
ECO/212 Principles of Economics
Donnetta McAdoo
December 5, 2011
Differentiating Between Market Structures
To understand the economy of today one must understand the different market structures that make up the economy. There are four market structures that define the economic structure within the world’s economy; perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. Team A will provide example of each market structure by completing a market structure table. The members of Team A will also compare and contrast the differences between public goods, private goods, common resources, and natural monopolies. Another portion of the paper will discuss how supply of labor and demand of labor affect labor equilibrium within the market. Team A selected Wal-Mart as the familiar organizational market structure to review, identify, and evaluate. Team A will also provide the factors that affect Wal-Mart’s labor supply and demand.
Compare and Contrast To compare and contrast both public and private goods used within the Wal-Mart Corporation, differentiations help identify structures by which the company competes and profits. A public good is both non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Public goods are often although not always, supplied by a government rather than by private firms (p. 148). Classic examples of public goods include national defense and court systems. Conversely, goods both rival (competitive) and excludable (unique) define private goods (e.g., food, clothing, haircuts, etc.). In an economic business environment, Wal-Mart provides products and services to private sector consumers to generate profit. Watkins (2100), “Private goods are such that if one person receives more of them then necessarily there will be less for the other people. In contrast, public goods are those things that all people can simultaneously
Alana Campbell, Dale Fortune,
Katrina Beyah, Leonard Cooper
University of Phoenix
ECO/212 Principles of Economics
Donnetta McAdoo
December 5, 2011
Differentiating Between Market Structures
To understand the economy of today one must understand the different market structures that make up the economy. There are four market structures that define the economic structure within the world’s economy; perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. Team A will provide example of each market structure by completing a market structure table. The members of Team A will also compare and contrast the differences between public goods, private goods, common resources, and natural monopolies. Another portion of the paper will discuss how supply of labor and demand of labor affect labor equilibrium within the market. Team A selected Wal-Mart as the familiar organizational market structure to review, identify, and evaluate. Team A will also provide the factors that affect Wal-Mart’s labor supply and demand.
Compare and Contrast To compare and contrast both public and private goods used within the Wal-Mart Corporation, differentiations help identify structures by which the company competes and profits. A public good is both non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Public goods are often although not always, supplied by a government rather than by private firms (p. 148). Classic examples of public goods include national defense and court systems. Conversely, goods both rival (competitive) and excludable (unique) define private goods (e.g., food, clothing, haircuts, etc.). In an economic business environment, Wal-Mart provides products and services to private sector consumers to generate profit. Watkins (2100), “Private goods are such that if one person receives more of them then necessarily there will be less for the other people. In contrast, public goods are those things that all people can simultaneously
References: Auburn university. (2005). Glossary of political economic terms. Retrieved from http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/natural_monopoly Dictionary. (2011). Oligopoly. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oligopoly Fowler, S. (2011). Characteristics of oligopoly market. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_8267327_characteristics-oligopoly-market.html Hubbard, R. & O’Brien, A. (2010). Economics (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Hall. Watkins, T. (2011). San jose state university economics department. Retrieved from http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/public.htm