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VANITA CHHATANI
JASNA
INTRODUCTION
Perfect competition is a market situation where there are large number of buyers and sellers and single uniform price prevails in the market which is determined by the forces of total demand and total supply. Under perfect competition a seller is the price taker and not price maker. Everyone has to accept the prevailing market price as no one is in the position to influence the price individually.
The concept of perfect competition is introduced by DR.ALFRED MARSHALL. In the perfect competition many firms sell a standardized product In the perfectly competitive market we typically find many buyers and sellers of a product each individual
player in the market is relatively small and cannot influence the market as a whole firms in such a market are generally called as the price takers. In such a perfectly competitive market, the product is seen by consumers as ''homogeneous''; there is no difference in quality of product, if we buy from firm A or firm B
Definition
Business firm - an organization set up and
managed for the purpose of earning profits for its owner by producing goods and services for sale in markets. According to the oxford dictionary of economics perfect competition is an ideal market situation in which many buyers and sellers are so numerous and well informed that each can act as a price taker, able to buy and sell any desired quantity, without affecting the market price.
Features
Large Number Of Sellers Absence Of Transport Cost Large Number Of Buyers Homogenous Products Ignores Government Interference Perfect Knowledge On The Part Of Buyers &
Sellers Offers Free Entry & Free Exit For Firms Rational Behaviour ( Rationality) Single (Uniform) Price Perfect Mobility Of The Factors Of Production
important features of perfect competition market.As there are millions of sellers, the share of each seller is not in a position to influence market price. The price is determined by the forces of total demand and total supply. The prices that prevails in the perfect competition is uniform throughout the market.All the sellers will take the price as given. That is why they are called price takers and not price makers.
since all firms are equally close to the market ; or there is equal transport cost faced by all, as all firms are supposed to be equally far away from the market. Hence the element of transport cost can be ignored.
single buyer cannot influence the market demand as his share is normal. Also he is price taker in the market.
Homogenous Products
In perfectly competitive market, the products of all
firms are homogenous i.e they are identical in size, shape, colour, design, etc. In other words, they are perfect substitutes of one another.
regarding market conditions. The buyers know the ruling market price and hence they will not offer any high price. On the other hand the sellers are aware of the prevailing market price and hence they will not charge lower price. As buyers & sellers possess perfect knowledge of the market there is no necessity for the sellers to go for advertising & publicity.
by freedom of entry and exit of firms i.e an existing firm can leave the industry whenever it desires to do so and a new firm can enter the industry whenever it wishes to do so.
Rational Behaviour
Under this market category, the sellers and buyers
behave rationally. Producers undertake production with a sole intention of profit maximization and consumers consume (demand) to derive maximum satisfaction.
Price gets determined at the intersection of market demand and market supply.
from one firm to another ; or from one industry to another ; or from one region to another ; or from one country to another.
exist, we can talk formally about the supply of a produced good. This follows from the definition of supply. Supply is a schedule of quantities of goods that will be offered to the market at various prices
taker (the first condition for perfect competition). Since most suppliers are price makers, any analysis must be modified accordingly. Because of the definition of supply, if any of the conditions are not met, the formal definition of supply disappears.
is perfectly elastic even though the demand curve for the market is downward sloping. This means that firms will increase their output in response to an increase in demand even though that will cause the price to fall thus making all firms collectively worse off.
6
4 2 0 Market demand
6
4 2 0 10
1,000
3,000 Quantity
20
30
Quantity
Case Study
Perfect competition, according to economists, is the most competitive market imaginable. In the real world, it is rare, and there are even some economists that feel it may not even exist in its purest form.
Perfect competition exists in our markets but not with all the features.
Large number of Buyers and Sellers :The markets visited by me and my group had large number of buyers and sellers selling homogenous commodities.
Mr. Aziz Sheikh at Fashion Street (shop no. 17) told us the price of the commodities is determined by them according to the cost of production.
Free entry and exit :He also told that they do not have much of government interventions. Anybody can come and sell goods and exit willingly. They need to own a government license to conduct the business there.
The market has homogeneous products available in it. These products are sold at different prices to the customers, by different sellers in the same market.
Perfect Mobility of Factors of Production and No Transport Cost:Mr. Arshad at Crawford Market (street hawker) told us that there transport cost is nil as they get the goods by themselves. The place from where they get goods is near by so there is quick movement of goods and free of cost. Where as,
At fashion Street, the transportation of goods from place of production to market is not free as they themselves go and get the goods. The travelling charges are paid by them.
Complete Market Information:Sellers do not have complete information relating to demand and supply. They only know the prices prevailing in the market presently and sell goods accordingly.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above case study we can conclude that perfect competition does exist but not completely. The markets taken into consideration has certain features in favour and some features against perfect competition. Features like large number of buyers and sellers, homogeneous products, no government restrictions are seen in these markets. But there is lack of complete market information and free transportation of goods. The markets included for case study are:- Crawford Market, Fashion Street, Linking Road.
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