Oligopoly II

Session Overview
So far, we have only analyzed one type of oligopoly. However, even when there are a small number of firms in a market, they can behave in a variety of different ways. We can compare the outcomes from these different types of competition to the competitive market. In this lecture, we learn more about different models of oligopoly. Bertrand price competition can be applied to pricing cereal. Image courtesy of ElCapitan on Flickr. Keywords: Cournot competition; cooperative competition; cartels; mergers; Bertrand competition.

Session Activities
Readings Read the recitation notes, which cover new content that adds to and supplements the material covered in lecture.

Recitation: Government Policy (PDF)

Before watching the lecture video, read the course textbook for an introduction to the material covered in this session:

[R&T] Chapter 11, "The World of Imperfect Competition." [Perloff] Chapter 12, "Pricing and Advertising." (optional)

Lecture Videos View Full Video

Lecture 17: Oligopoly II (00:47:21) Transcript (PDF)

View by Chapter

Cournot Competition: Mathematical Analysis (00:10:12) Cartels (00:13:00) Comparison of Firm Types (00:04:25) Impact of Firm Quantity on Welfare (00:10:23) Bertrand Price Competition (00:09:17)

Resources

Graphs and Figures (PDF)

Further Study
These optional resources are provided for students that wish to explore this topic more fully. Textbook Study Materials See the [Perloff] companion website for an overview of the main topics covered in the chapter, as well as quizzes, applications, and other related resources.

Chapter 12