Imperfect competition in agribusiness

7 important questions on Imperfect competition in agribusiness


Is it possible that in the case of perfect competition marginal costs are not equal between producers in the market equilibrium? Justify your answer

In the case of perfect competition and profit maximisation price equals marginal revenue and marginal cost. Because the price is equal for all firms marginal costs are also equal. 


Are there any reasons for government intervention in above-mentioned example? 
Justify your answer. 

In this example we have Cournot competition. This implies that price does not equal marginal costs. Consumers pay a higher price than in the case of perfect competition. 
Notice however that firms do not make any joint decisions about price, etc. So they do not co-operate in any way. Governments could try to increase competition by removing barriers to entry, removing international trade barriers and forbid mergers between firms


What is the economic interpretation of the reaction curves? Are we dealing with strategic substitutes or complements and why? 

A reaction curve gives supply of a firm as a function of the supply of the other firms. If supply of firm 2 goes up, supply of firm 1 goes down and vice versa. Therefore quantities supplied are strategic substitutes
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Why is market equilibrium unstable in the case of co-operation?

he market equilibrium in the case of co-operation is unstable because each individual firm can increase profit if the other firm does not react. So there is an incentive to cheat. 


Why is co-operation between oligopolists not allowed in the EU and the US? Justify your answer

Co-operation is not allowed because the extra profit is at the expense of consumers. Moreover, the total the welfare effect is negative. Consumers pay a higher price for less. 

How can a firm built up leadership in time?

Leadership can be built up by transaction specific investments, investments in excess capacity (limiting entry) and advertising

Why are oligopoly and monopoly profits not desirable from a social perspective?

With an oligopoly or monopoly other market parties are affected negatively (e.g. consumers). For this reason governments implement policies to prevent concentration and to prevent price agreements. Notice that with Cournot and Stackelberg there are no price agreements, firms compete each other by means of quantities produced. 

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