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Multiple Choice
Suppose there are four gas stations in town, each selling identical gasoline and none has any control over the market price. Which market structure best describes this situation?
A
Monopolistic competition
B
Perfect competition
C
Oligopoly
D
Monopoly
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Verified step by step guidance
1
Step 1: Identify the key characteristics of the market described. Here, there are four gas stations selling identical gasoline, and none has control over the market price.
Step 2: Recall the defining features of different market structures: Monopoly (one seller), Oligopoly (few sellers with some market power), Monopolistic Competition (many sellers with differentiated products), and Perfect Competition (many sellers with identical products and no price control).
Step 3: Analyze the number of sellers: four gas stations is a small number, which might suggest oligopoly, but consider the product type and price control.
Step 4: Since the gasoline is identical and no station controls the price, this implies price-taking behavior typical of perfect competition, where products are homogeneous and firms are price takers.
Step 5: Conclude that the market structure best describing this situation is Perfect Competition because of identical products and no price control by individual sellers.