Monopolistic

competition

Short-run equilibrium of the firm under monopolistic

competition. The firm maximizes its profits and
produces a quantity where the firm's marginal revenue
(MR) is equal to its marginal cost (MC). The firm is
able to collect a price based on the average revenue
(AR) curve. The difference between the firm's average
revenue and average cost, multiplied by the quantity
sold (Qs), gives the total profit.

Long-run equilibrium of the firm under monopolistic

competition. The firm still produces where marginal
cost and marginal revenue are equal; however, the
demand curve (and AR) has shifted as other firms
entered the market and increased competition. The
firm no longer sells its goods above average cost and
can no longer claim an economic profit.

Monopolistic competition is a type of

imperfect competition such that many
producers sell products that are
differentiated from one another (e.g. by
branding or quality) and hence are not
perfect substitutes. In monopolistic
competition, a firm takes the prices
charged by its rivals as given and ignores
the impact of its own prices on the prices
of other firms.[1][2] In the presence of
coercive government, monopolistic
competition will fall into government-
granted monopoly. Unlike perfect
competition, the firm maintains spare
capacity. Models of monopolistic
competition are often used to model
industries. Textbook examples of
industries with market structures similar
to monopolistic competition include
restaurants, cereal, clothing, shoes, and
service industries in large cities. The
"founding father" of the theory of
monopolistic competition is Edward
Hastings Chamberlin, who wrote a
pioneering book on the subject, Theory of
Monopolistic Competition (1933).[3] Joan
Robinson published a book The Economics
of Imperfect Competition with a
comparable theme of distinguishing
perfect from imperfect competition.

Monopolistically competitive markets have

the following characteristics:
 There are many producers and many
consumers in the market, and no
business has total control over the
market price.
Consumers perceive that there are non-
price differences among the
competitors' products.
There are few barriers to entry and
exit.[4]
Producers have a degree of control over
price.

The long-run characteristics of a

monopolistically competitive market are
almost the same as a perfectly
competitive market. Two differences
between the two are that monopolistic
competition produces heterogeneous
products and that monopolistic
competition involves a great deal of non-
price competition, which is based on
subtle product differentiation. A firm
making profits in the short run will
nonetheless only break even in the long
run because demand will decrease and
average total cost will increase. This
means in the long run, a monopolistically
competitive firm will make zero economic
profit. This illustrates the amount of
influence the firm has over the market;
because of brand loyalty, it can raise its
prices without losing all of its customers.
This means that an individual firm's
demand curve is downward sloping, in
contrast to perfect competition, which has
a perfectly elastic demand schedule.

Characteristics of
monopolistic competition
There are six characteristics of
monopolistic competition (MC):

Product differentiation
Many firms
Freedom of Entry and Exit
Independent decision making
Some degree of market power
 Buyers and sellers do not have perfect
information (Imperfect Information)[5][6]

Product Differentiation

MC firms sell products that have real or

perceived non-price differences. However,
the differences are not so great as to
eliminate other goods as substitutes.
Technically, the cross price elasticity of
demand between goods in such a market
is positive. In fact, the XED would be
high.[7] MC goods are best described as
close but imperfect substitutes.[7] The
goods perform the same basic functions
but have differences in qualities such as
type, style, quality, reputation, appearance,
and location that tend to distinguish them
from each other. For example, the basic
function of motor vehicles is the same—to
move people and objects from point to
point in reasonable comfort and safety.
Yet there are many different types of
motor vehicles such as motor scooters,
motor cycles, trucks and cars, and many
variations even within these categories.

Many firms

There are many firms in each MC product

group and many firms on the side lines
prepared to enter the market. A product
group is a "collection of similar
products".[8] The fact that there are "many
firms" gives each MC firm the freedom to
set prices without engaging in strategic
decision making regarding the prices of
other firms and each firm's actions have a
negligible impact on the market. For
example, a firm could cut prices and
increase sales without fear that its actions
will prompt retaliatory responses from
competitors.

How many firms will an MC market

structure support at market equilibrium?
The answer depends on factors such as
fixed costs, economies of scale and the
degree of product differentiation. For
example, the higher the fixed costs, the
fewer firms the market will support.[9]

Freedom of Entry and Exit

Like perfect competition, under

monopolistic competition also, the firms
can enter or exit freely. The firms will enter
when the existing firms are making super-
normal profits. With the entry of new firms,
the supply would increase which would
reduce the price and hence the existing
firms will be left only with normal profits.
Similarly, if the existing firms are
sustaining losses, some of the marginal
firms will exit. It will reduce the supply due
to which price would rise and the existing
firms will be left only with normal profit.

Independent decision making

Each MC firm independently sets the

terms of exchange for its product.[10] The
firm gives no consideration to what effect
its decision may have on competitors.[10]
The theory is that any action will have
such a negligible effect on the overall
market demand that an MC firm can act
without fear of prompting heightened
competition. In other words, each firm
feels free to set prices as if it were a
monopoly rather than an oligopoly.
Market power

MC firms have some degree of market

power. Market power means that the firm
has control over the terms and conditions
of exchange. An MC firm can raise its
prices without losing all its customers.
The firm can also lower prices without
triggering a potentially ruinous price war
with competitors. The source of an MC
firm's market power is not barriers to entry
since they are low. Rather, an MC firm has
market power because it has relatively few
competitors, those competitors do not
engage in strategic decision making and
the firms sells differentiated product.[11]
Market power also means that an MC firm
faces a downward sloping demand curve.
The demand curve is highly elastic
although not "flat".

Imperfect information

No sellers or buyers have complete market

information, like market demand or market
supply.[12]
Market Structure comparison
Elasticity Profit
Number Market Product
of Excess profits Efficiency maximiza
of firms power differentiation
demand conditio

Perfect Perfectly Yes/No

Infinite None None Yes[13] P=MR=MC
Competition elastic (Short/Long)

Highly
Monopolistic elastic Yes/No
Many Low High[16] No[18] MR=MC[14
competition (long (Short/Long)[17]
run)[15]

Absolute
Relatively
Monopoly One High (across Yes No MR=MC[14
inelastic
industries)

Inefficiency
There are two sources of inefficiency in
the MC market structure. First, at its
optimum output the firm charges a price
that exceeds marginal costs, The MC firm
maximizes profits where marginal revenue
= marginal cost. Since the MC firm's
demand curve is downward sloping this
means that the firm will be charging a
price that exceeds marginal costs. The
monopoly power possessed by a MC firm
means that at its profit maximizing level of
production there will be a net loss of
consumer (and producer) surplus. The
second source of inefficiency is the fact
that MC firms operate with excess
capacity. That is, the MC firm's profit
maximizing output is less than the output
associated with minimum average cost.
Both a PC and MC firm will operate at a
point where demand or price equals
average cost. For a PC firm this
equilibrium condition occurs where the
perfectly elastic demand curve equals
minimum average cost. A MC firm’s
demand curve is not flat but is downward
sloping. Thus in the long run the demand
curve will be tangential to the long run
average cost curve at a point to the left of
its minimum. The result is excess
capacity.[19]

Socially undesirable aspects

compared to perfect
competition

Selling costs: Products under

monopolistic competition are spending
huge amounts on advertising and
publicity. Much of this expenditure is
wasteful from the social point of view.
The producer can reduce the price of the
product instead of spending on publicity.
Excess Capacity: Under Imperfect
competition, the installed capacity of
every firm is large, but not fully utilized.
Total output is, therefore, less than the
output which is socially desirable. Since
production capacity is not fully utilized,
the resources lie idle. Therefore, the
production under monopolistic
competition is below the full capacity
level.
Unemployment: Idle capacity under
monopolistic competition expenditure
leads to unemployment. In particular,
unemployment of workers leads to
poverty and misery in the society. If idle
capacity is fully used, the problem of
unemployment can be solved to some
extent.
Cross Transport: Under monopolistic
competition expenditure is incurred on
cross transportation. If the goods are
sold locally, wasteful expenditure on
cross transport could be avoided.
Lack of Specialization: Under
monopolistic competition, there is little
scope for specialization or
standardization. Product differentiation
practiced under this competition leads
 to wasteful expenditure. It is argued that
instead of producing too many similar
products, only a few standardized
products may be produced. This would
ensure better allocation of resources
and would promote economic welfare of
the society.
Inefficiency: Under perfect competition,
an inefficient firm is thrown out of the
industry. But under monopolistic
competition inefficient firms continue to
survive.

Problems
Monopolistically competitive firms are
inefficient, it is usually the case that the
costs of regulating prices for products
sold in monopolistic competition exceed
the benefits of such regulation. . A
monopolistically competitive firm might be
said to be marginally inefficient because
the firm produces at an output where
average total cost is not a minimum. A
monopolistically competitive market is
productively inefficient market structure
because marginal cost is less than price in
the long run. Monopolistically competitive
markets are also allocatively inefficient, as
the price given is higher than Marginal
cost. Product differentiation increases
total utility by better meeting people's
wants than homogenous products in a
perfectly competitive market.

Another concern is that monopolistic

competition fosters advertising and the
creation of brand names. Advertising
induces customers into spending more on
products because of the name associated
with them rather than because of rational
factors. Defenders of advertising dispute
this, arguing that brand names can
represent a guarantee of quality and that
advertising helps reduce the cost to
consumers of weighing the tradeoffs of
numerous competing brands. There are
unique information and information
processing costs associated with
selecting a brand in a monopolistically
competitive environment. In a monopoly
market, the consumer is faced with a
single brand, making information
gathering relatively inexpensive. In a
perfectly competitive industry, the
consumer is faced with many brands, but
because the brands are virtually identical
information gathering is also relatively
inexpensive. In a monopolistically
competitive market, the consumer must
collect and process information on a large
number of different brands to be able to
select the best of them. In many cases, the
cost of gathering information necessary to
selecting the best brand can exceed the
benefit of consuming the best brand
instead of a randomly selected brand. The
result is that the consumer is confused.
Some brands gain prestige value and can
extract an additional price for that.

Evidence suggests that consumers use

information obtained from advertising not
only to assess the single brand advertised,
but also to infer the possible existence of
brands that the consumer has, heretofore,
not observed, as well as to infer consumer
satisfaction with brands similar to the
advertised brand.[20]
Examples
In many markets, such as toothpaste,
soap, air conditioning, smartphones and
toilet paper, producers practice product
differentiation by altering the physical
composition of products, using special
packaging, or simply claiming to have
superior products based on brand images
or advertising.

See also
Atomistic market
Government-granted monopoly
Imperfect competition
Microeconomics
 Monopolistic competition in
international trade
Monopoly
Natural monopoly
Oligopoly
Perfect competition

Notes
1. Krugman, Paul; Obstfeld, Maurice (2008).
International Economics: Theory and Policy.
Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-321-55398-5.
2. Poiesz, Theo B. C. (2004). "The Free
Market Illusion Psychological Limitations of
Consumer Choice" (PDF). Tijdschrift voor
Economie en Management. 49 (2): 309–
338.
3. "Monopolistic Competition" .
Encyclopædia Britannica.
4. Gans, Joshua; King, Stephen; Stonecash,
Robin; Mankiw, N. Gregory (2003).
Principles of Economics. Thomson
Learning. ISBN 0-17-011441-4.
5. Goodwin, N.; Nelson, J.; Ackerman, F.;
Weisskopf, T. (2009). Microeconomics in
Context (2nd ed.). Sharpe. p. 317. ISBN 978-
0-7656-2301-0.
6. Hirschey, M. (2000). Managerial
Economics (Rev. ed.). Fort Worth: Dryden.
p. 443. ISBN 0-03-025649-6.
7. Krugman; Wells (2009). Microeconomics
(2nd ed.). New York: Worth. ISBN 978-0-
7167-7159-3.
8. Samuelson, W.; Marks, S. (2003).
Managerial Economics (4th ed.). Wiley.
p. 379. ISBN 0-470-00044-9.
9. Perloff, J. (2008). Microeconomics
Theory & Applications with Calculus.
Boston: Pearson. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-321-
27794-7.
10. Colander, David C. (2008).
Microeconomics (7th ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-07-
334365-5.
11. Perloff, J. (2008). Microeconomics
Theory & Applications with Calculus.
Boston: Pearson. p. 483. ISBN 978-0-321-
27794-7.
12. Goodwin, N.; Nelson, J.; Ackerman, F.;
Weisskopf, T. (2009). Microeconomics in
Context (2nd ed.). Sharpe. p. 289. ISBN 978-
0-7656-2301-0.
13. Ayers, R.; Collinge, R. (2003).
Microeconomics: Explore & Apply. Pearson.
pp. 224–225. ISBN 0-13-177714-9.
14. Perloff, J. (2008). Microeconomics
Theory & Applications with Calculus.
Boston: Pearson. p. 445. ISBN 978-0-321-
27794-7.
15. Ayers, R.; Collinge, R. (2003).
Microeconomics: Explore & Apply. Pearson.
p. 280. ISBN 0-13-177714-9.
16. Pindyck, R.; Rubinfeld, D. (2001).
Microeconomics (5th ed.). London:
Prentice-Hall. p. 424. ISBN 0-13-030472-7.
17. Pindyck, R.; Rubinfeld, D. (2001).
Microeconomics (5th ed.). London:
Prentice-Hall. p. 425. ISBN 0-13-030472-7.
18. Pindyck, R.; Rubinfeld, D. (2001).
Microeconomics (5th ed.). London:
Prentice-Hall. p. 427. ISBN 0-13-030472-7.
19. The firm has not reached full capacity or
minimum efficient scale. Minimum efficient
scale is the level of production at which the
long run average cost curve first reaches its
minimum. It is the point where the LRATC
curve "begins to bottom out." Perloff, J.
(2008). Microeconomics Theory &
Applications with Calculus. Boston:
Pearson. pp. 483–484. ISBN 978-0-321-
27794-7.
20. Antony Davies & Thomas Cline (2005).
"A Consumer Behavior Approach to
Modeling Monopolistic Competition".
Journal of Economic Psychology. 26 (6):
797–826. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2005.05.003 .

External links
Monopolistic Competition by Elmer G.
Wiens
 Monopolistic Competition Video
Explanation by Prof. Vinod Kumar on
YouTube

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