Question

In tabular from differentiate all four market structures on the basis of any eight differences

Answer 1

Well, following is the tabular presentation of four market structures as needed. Why only 8, when you can have it all!

PERFECT COMPETITION Definition: “In perfect competition there are large number of buyers and sellers in the market dealing in the homogenous product being sold at a price determined by the total market as a whole and not by an individual firm.	MONOPOLY Definition: “In monopoly there are large number of buyers but only single seller in the market dealing in the kind of product which has no close substitute. Here the single firm has full control over price.	MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION Definition: “In monopolistic competition there are large number of buyers and sellers in the market, where each seller is selling the ‘differentiated products’ in a ‘non-price competition’ scenario.	OLIGOPOLY Definition: “In oligopoly there are large number of buyers but only a few large size sellers in the market. Sellers make cartels among themselves and thus avoid price-competition for earning maximum profit individually. There are ‘entry barriers’ for the new firms.
Examples Potato Market Foreign Exchange Market Gold and Silver Market Coarse Grain Market Bread Market Fish Market Loose Spices Market	Examples Local Cable Operator Indian Railways State Transport Roadways Oil Companies (IOCL+BP+HP) Microsoft Windows Android from Google Google Search Engine	Examples Toothpaste Market Shampoo Market Bath-soap Market Branded Footwear Market Branded Apparel Market Branded FMCG Market Branded Stationery Market	Examples Telecom=Airtel+Vodafone+Idea+Jio Beverages=Coke+Pepsi+Manpasand Cars=Maruti+Hyundai+Tata+Honda Cement Industry Pharmaceuticals (Generic drugs) 2 Wheelers=Hero+Bajaj+Honda Consumer Durable Market
Large Number of Buyers (Because of the small value of each purchase. E.g. Potatoes: Rs. 10/- per kg.)	Large Number of Buyers (Because all buyers have no option but to buy from the only seller available)	Large Number of Buyers (Because these are daily-use items required by all people across economy)	Large Number of Buyers (Because these are the kinds of goods or services aspired/needed by all people)
Large Number of Sellers (Because of low business investment, ‘Free Entry’, Large Market size) We call them: Perfectly Competitive Firms	Single Seller (Because of patent/copy rights, exclusive control over technology/raw materials, the entry of new firm is highly restricted) We call it: The monopolist Firm	Large Number of Sellers (Because of low business investment, Daily-use items, large consumer base, High profitability) We call it: Monopolistic Firm	Small Number of Big Sellers (Because of government licensing: e.g. Telecom Spectrum, Patent rights: e.g. Pharmaceuticals, Huge Investment: e.g. Car companies, Huge selling cost: e.g. Airtel/Voda/idea/Jio) We call it: Oligopolistic Firm

PERFECT COMPETITION	MONOPOLY	MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION	OLIGOPOLY
Uniform Price (Price is uniform or same in the entire market because there are too many sellers of the homogeneous products. A single firm cannot change price.)	Not-Uniform Price (Price is not uniform because of the ‘Price-Discrimination’. Firm can charge different prices from different consumers for the same goods. It has full control on the pricing decision.)	Not-Uniform Price (Price is not uniform (same) across different consumers because of the ‘Product-Differentiation’ in form of brand, trade-mark, etc. by seller)	Not-Uniform Price (Price is not uniform (same) across different consumers because of the ‘Non-Price Competition’ by all sellers)
Free Entry of New Firms (No government permission/license is required to open a new shop)	No New Entry (There is only one seller in monopoly. A new firm cannot enter in market)	No Full Freedom to Enter (Very high marketing and distribution costs do not let many new firms enter)	Restricted Entry (Very high investment, patents/ copy-rights, govt. permissions do not let many new shops open in the market.)
Homogeneous Products (All products are very similar. E.g. all potatoes/fishes are same. Gold or grain are same from wherever you buy. It’s zero degree of product differentiation)	Homogeneous or Differentiated (Here the single seller can sell same goods or differentiated goods to the consumers as per the opportunity of earning maximum profit)	Product Differentiation (Since consumers have imperfect knowledge of products, companies price the similar goods differentiately based upon packing, color, advertisement)	Homogeneous or Differentiated (Here the few sellers can sell similar goods or differentiated goods to the consumers as per the opportunity of earning maximum profit)
Perfect Knowledge (Buyers have perfect knowledge of product availability and product price.)	Imperfect Knowledge (Buyers don’t have perfect knowledge of product availability and product price. Having no other option, they are forced to buy from the same single seller.)	Imperfect Knowledge (Products are so vastly differentiated that buyers never have the perfect knowledge of product quality and price. They’re influenced by advertisements.)	Imperfect Knowledge (Due to various tactics played by few big sellers, buyers never have the perfect knowledge of product quality and price. They have hardly any option but to believe the seller and buy the product.)
Normal Profits only (Abnormal profit will attract more sellers in the market and losses will cause old sellers to quit the market; hence only normal profit is earned in long-run) TR = TC AR = AC	Extra-normal Profits (When there is only one seller in the market, it will charge higher price from buyers and earns abnormal profit in short-run as well as in long-run) TR > TC AR > AC	Normal Profits only (Abnormal profit will attract more sellers in the market and losses will cause old sellers to quit the market; hence only normal profit is earned in long-run) TR = TC AR = AC	Extra-normal Profits (Since there are only few sellers in the market, they make cartels and avoid the price-competition among themselves; hence earn extra-normal profits in short-run as well as in long-run) TR > TC AR > AC
Perfectly Elastic Demand Curve (Because of AR = MR, price remains constant and therefore demand curve remains perfectly elastic. Ed = ∞. )	Less Elastic Demand Curve (Because of the non-availability of the alternative product, AR (demand curve) remains less elastic. Ed < 1. Also AR>MR)	More Elastic Demand Curve (Because of the high availability of the alternative products, AR (demand curve) remains more elastic. Ed > 1. Also AR>MR)	Uncertain Demand Curve (Because of the high dependency upon the pricing by other sellers, a single firm’s demand curve cannot be determined easily. It is generally kinked.)

PERFECT COMPETITION	MONOPOLY	MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION	OLIGOPOLY
Zero Selling Costs (Sellers in perfect competition don’t have to spend money on advertisement or other forms of marketing. There is Zero Advertisement/Selling Costs.)	Negligible Selling Costs (Because firm is the only seller in the market, it rarely needs to spend money on advertisement and marketing.)	High Selling Costs (Because of very high competition and product differentiation in the market, each firm has to spend a lot on advertisement and marketing tactics.)	High Selling Costs (Even though there are few sellers in market, the competition is very tough. Each firm is required to spend a lot on advertisement and marketing tactics.)
No Control on Price (Single firm has no control on the price in market. A single firm is a Price Taker and not Price Maker.)	Full Control on Price (A monopoly firm has full control on the price in market because there is no close substitute of the product sold by it.) Firm is Price Maker.	Partial Control on Price (Because of AR=AC and a firm earning only ‘normal profit’, a monopolistic firm can change the price only little bit.)	Partial Control on Price (Because of ‘High-interdependence’ of the firms upon each other, an oligopolistic firm can change the price only little bit.)
Buyer’s Perfect Mobility (Many sellers being there in the market, a buyer can move to another seller any time.)	Buyer’s Immobility (Only one seller being there in market, A buyer has no option at all. He can never move to another seller.)	Buyer’s Partial Mobility (A buyer usually remains loyal to one brand, but he can also move to other brand when the ‘offer’ is very good.)	Buyer’s Partial Mobility (Generally a buyer remains loyal to a brand, but he can also move to other brand when the offer is too good.)
Business Mantra Produce maximum and keep the price minimum	Business Mantra Produce less and keep the price high (for maximum profit)	Business Mantra Advertise maximum, Sell maximum, Capture maximum market share	Business Mantra Advertise maximum, Beat competition, Take benefit from economies of scale, Maximize market share