Index
Introduction - 1
Defining A Market - 2
The Importance Of Competition - 3
The Result Of Competition - 4
Intervening In Markets - 5
The Allocative Role - 6
The Distributive Role - 7
The Regulative Role - 8
The Regulative Role (continued) - 9
The Role Of Government - 10
The Role of Government (continued) - 11
The Stabilizing Role - 12
Vertical and Horizontal Integration Defined - 13
Defining Market Structure - 14
How A Firm Can Grow - 15
Mergers and Takeovers - 16
Vertical And Horizonal Integration (Diagram) - 17
Why markets Vary in Structure - 18
Product Differentiation - 19
Product Differentiation (continued) - 20
Free Range ''Googs''- 21
Product Differentiation (continued) - 22
Non Price Competition - 23
Non Price Competition (continued) - 24
Defining The Types Of Market Structures - 25
Perfect Competition - 26
Perfect Competition (continued) - 27
The Market For Oranges - 28
The Market For Oranges (continued) - 29
Bitter Oranges - 30
Summary: Perfect Competition - 31
Monopolistic Competition - 32
True Blue Oranges - 33
Monopolistic Competition (continued) - 34
Oligopoly - 35
Oligopoly (continued) - 36
Oligopoly (continued) - 37
Kinked Demand Curves - 38
OPEC - 39
OPEC (continued) - 40
Monopoly - 41
Microsoft - 42
Why Monopolies Are Inefficient - 43
Revision Questions On Market Forms - 44

The Market For Oranges (continued)- 29
Growers are not tied to specific orange juice producers; they sell their product to any manufacturer they wish. The price of 500 ml of orange juice does not vary much between brands. (Prices may vary, but this may be the result of where you buy the orange juice. Corner stores generally charge more for goods than large supermarkets.)

To become a producer of oranges requires some land and capital, so barriers to entry are not quite non-existent, but they are low. The technology of orange growing is well understood and standardised across the industry. Do a taste test; can you pick one brand of orange juice from another, without looking at the label on the plastic bottle?

The product is ''homogeneous''. Consumers have ''perfect knowledge'' they know exactly what they are getting when they buy orange juice; they are getting pure orange juice and nothing else.

Because competition between growers is so high, the price of oranges will fall to a level where orange growers will only receive what are called ''normal profits'' from growing oranges. The level of profit will be only slightly higher than that received from investing your money in a bank, and earning the current bank interest rate.