Question

Write a short (2-3 page, double-spaced, typed) essay identifying and describing the conditions you observed for a business in Monopolistic Competition or a Differentiated Oligopoly who differentiates their product. Your paper should also provide brief market analysis including the state of the market before and after the differentiation, as well as the observed changes that resulted. Specifically, the following questions should be addressed:

What type of market structure was the product or service in when the differentiation occurred?

What is the differentiation? Describe specifically what the differentiation was and tell us what that means for rational business price and production decisions.

What was the observed change in the equilibrium price and quantity in the market, as well as the company?

Evaluate the result of the observed change from perspectives of efficiency and equity drawing upon price/cost margins for your explanation.

Evaluate whether the decision to differentiate the product was a good move for that business at that time.

Evaluate whether the decision to differentiate the product was a good economic decision for that business at that time. That is, were economic or normal profits realized as a result?

Answer 1