Perfect Competition :-

Perfectly competitive market exists when the number of buyers and sellers is very large, the product brought and sold is homogeneous, there is perfect knowledge of the market, and there is freedom of entry and exit of firms. Thus the main characteristics of perfectly competitive market are as follows-

1. Large number of buyers and sellers,

2. Homogeneous product,

3. Free entry and exist of firms,

4. Perfect knowledge on the part of buyers and sellers regarding the price and other conditions prevailing in the market,

5. Absence of transport cost,

6. Perfect mobility of factors of production.

Monopolistic Competition:-

Monopolistic competition refers to a market situation where there are a large number of sellers each producing differentiated products. Goods produced by the firms under monopolistic competition are similar to one another but not identical or homogeneous. Furthermore, a single firm can in no way influence the price-output determination of the other firms nor can be influenced by the actions of the others. The main characteristics of monopolistic competition are-

1. Large number of sellers.

2. The firms produces differentiated products.

3. Absence of perfect knowledge about the market on the part of the buyers.

4. Firms sell their products at different prices in the market.

5. There is free entry and exit of firms.

Monopoly:-

The term monopoly refers to a market situation where there is a single seller of a product which has no close substitutes. Under this market situation, the entry of new firms is completely restricted. Moreover, the monopolist being the single seller of his product in the market, can determined the entire supply of his product and hence he can set the price of his product and can earn super-normal profit. Hence, in any situation, the ultimate aim of the monopolist is to have maximum profits. The main features of monopoly market are:-

1. There is a single seller of a product.

2. There are no close substitutes for that particular product.

3. There is strong restrictions on the entry of new firms and exit of existing firms.

4. The firms is a price-maker and hence can influence the market price of his product.

5. There exists price discrimination. In other words, the monopolist charges different prices for his product from different persons and in different markets.

Oligopoly:-

Oligopoly refers to a market situation in which there are a few firms, each producing either a homogeneous or differentiated product. Under oligopoly, each firm produces a large fraction of the total market output and hence has considerable influence over the market price. A single firm can reduce or increase the price for the whole market by selling more quantity or less and hence can affect the profits of the other rival firms. The main features of an oligopolistic market are:-

1. There are few firms.

2. The product may be a homogeneous or differentiated product.

3. There is interdependence between the firms.

4. There exists advertisement cost.

5. There is lack of uniformity in the size of the firms.

* National Income and Related Aggregates

* Money and Banking

* Introduction to Microeconomics Part 1

* Introduction to Microeconomics Part 2

* Theory of Supply

* Theory of Demand