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The Kinked-Demand curve theory is an economic theory regarding oligopoly and monopolistic competition. Kinked demand was an initial attempt to explain sticky prices. Theory
An oligopoly (from Ancient Greek ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few' and πωλέω (pōléō) 'to sell') is a market in which pricing control lies in the hands of a few sellers. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] As a result of their significant market power, firms in oligopolistic markets can influence prices through manipulating the supply function .
In order to distinguish themselves well, these firms can compete in price, but more often, oligopolistic firms engage in non-price competition because of their kinked demand curve. In the kinked demand curve model, the firm will maximize its profits at Q,P where the marginal revenue (MR) is equal to the marginal cost (MC) of the firm.
An oligopoly may engage in collusion, either tacit or overt to exercise market power and manipulate prices to control demand and revenue for a collection of firms. A group of firms that explicitly agree to affect market price or output is called a cartel , with the organization of petroleum-exporting countries ( OPEC ) being one of the most ...
Oligopoly, in which a market is dominated by a small number of firms which own more than 40% of the market share. Oligopsony , a market dominated by many sellers and a few buyers. Market-oriented activities
English: A diagram illustrating kinked demand, one formulation for explaining price stability in oligopolies.The demand curve the oligopolist faces is that of two separate curves spliced together, creating a discontinuity in the MR curve.
When comparing the models, the oligopoly theory suggest that the Bertrand industries are more competitive than Cournot industries. This is because quantities in the Cournot model are considered as strategic substitutes; that is, the increase in quantity level produced by a firm is accommodated by the rival, producing less.
Examples are Cournot oligopoly, and Bertrand oligopoly for differentiated products. Bain's (1956) original concern with market concentration was based on an intuitive relationship between high concentration and collusion which led to Bain's finding that firms in concentrated markets should be earning supra-competitive profits.