Market Structure: The Analysis of Markets and Competition

Abstract A market is, in its general sense, the group of suppliers and buyers who are in sufficiently close contact for market transactions to take place and for those transactions to effect the terms of trade (the price). The structure of the markets indicates the relative number of buyers and sellers in the market and therefore the nature of competition that will take place. Market conditions can vary from the perfectly competitive to the monopolistic, and the consequences of these can be seen in market conduct and performance outcomes.