Posted by CAM on Monday, June 12, 2006 at 4:39pm.
What the four firm concentration ratio tells you is how much market share the top four firms in a particular industry have. In other words, it says how much of the total business is taken up by the top four producers. In the first part, the industry with the CR of 30% means that the market is largely fragmented. There are many competitors, and no competitor appears to have a dominant position in the market. This industry could be the agricultural industry, in which there are alot of suppliers, but no major player that can manipulate the market.
Thus, this market is probably a perfect competition model, and the firms are price takers, meaning that consumers have the power, as if one firm raises prices, the consumer can go to another firm. It also indicates that there are relatively few barriers to entry. Thus, if demand increases, new firms will likely enter into the market.
In the second, the CR has increased to 80%, indicating that the top four firms have 80% of the business. Thus, this is probably more like an oligopoly. These firms have a bit of pricing power, as there aren't too many other competitors whom the consumer can turn to if the prices are raised. This is more of a specialized industry. One that might fall into this is software, with a dominating Microsoft controlling a large portion of it, or oil, with OPEC controlling the large majority of the available oil.
Degree in economics
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