Areas of Study
Industrial organization investigates the outcomes of these market structures in environments with
- Price discrimination
- Product differentiation
- Durable goods
- Experience goods
- Secondary markets or second-hand markets, which can affect the behaviour of firms in primary markets.
- Collusion
- Signalling, such as warranties and advertising.
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Entry and Exit
A competitive market structure has the performance outcome of lower costs and lower prices, (Shepherd, W: 1997:4).
The subject has a theoretical side and a practical side. According to one text book: "On one plane the field is abstract, a set of analytical concepts about competition and monopoly. On a second plane the topic is about real markets, teeming with the excitement and drama of struggles among real firms" (Shepherd, W.; 1985; 1).
The extensive use of game theory in industrial economics has led to the export of this tool to other branches of microeconomics, such as behavioral economics and corporate finance. Industrial organization has also had significant practical impacts on antitrust law and competition policy.
Read more about this topic: Industrial Organization
Famous quotes containing the words areas of, areas and/or study:
“... two great areas of deafness existed in the South: White Southerners had no ears to hear that which threatened their Dream. And colored Southerners had none to hear that which could reduce their anger.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 1, ch. 16 (1962)
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“You’ll come to learn a great deal if you study the Insignificant in depth.”
—Odysseus Elytis (b. 1911)