Chapter 12
Monopolistic Competition
By Boundless
Monopolistic competition is a type of imperfect competition such that many producers sell products that are differentiated from one another.
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Product differentiation is the process of distinguishing a product or service from others to make it more attractive to a target market.
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The demand curve in a monopolistic competitive market slopes downward, which has several important implications for firms in this market.
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Monopolistic competitive markets can lead to significant profits in the short-run, but are inefficient.
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In the long run, firms in monopolistic competitive markets are highly inefficient and can only break even.
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The key difference between perfectly competitive markets and monopolistically competitive ones is efficiency.
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Monopolistic competitive markets are never efficient in any economic sense of the term.
Advertising and branding help firms in monopolistic competitive markets differentiate their products from those of their competitors.
- Monopolistic Competition