ECONOMICS (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Monopolistic competition, also called competitive market, where there is a large number of firms, each having a small proportion of the market share and slightly differentiated products. Oligopoly, in which a market is by a small number of firms that together control the majority of the market share.

Detailed explanation-2: -Monopolistic competition is a type of market structure where many companies are present in an industry, and they produce similar but differentiated products. None of the companies enjoy a monopoly, and each company operates independently without regard to the actions of other companies.

Detailed explanation-3: -Product differentiation is the key feature of monopolistic competition, where products are marketed by quality or brand. Demand is highly elastic, and any change in pricing can cause demand to shift from one competitor to another.

Detailed explanation-4: -Monopolistic competition is a market structure defined by free entry and exit, like competition, and differentiated products, like monopoly. Differentiated products provide each firm with some market power.

Detailed explanation-5: -An oligopoly refers to a market with only a few sellers. Monopolistic competition refers to situations where there are many sellers, but the products are highly differentiated. There are several important nuances to explore between these types of markets.