RA #3 Rough Draft is due on Monday in Week 6 by 11:59pm EST
RA #3 Final Draft is due on Monday in Week 7 by 11:59pm EST
Late research assignments and emailed submissions will NOT be accepted for credit.
Each submission will be checked for plagiarism with SafeAssign in Blackboard.
In accordance with university policy, all forms of plagiarism will be reported to the School of Business as a violation of the academic dishonesty policy.
Background:
For this research assignment, try to list at least one example of a firm, or a market, that falls into each different level of competition. Points will be assigned for how close (or unclose) your examples are. Make sure that your examples fit the characteristics and definitions from the textbook and PPT slides. For example, Microsoft is not a monopoly because more than one firm produces and competes in the market for operating systems. In addition, avoid oversimplifying a firm like stating PepsiCo has a monopoly on Pepsi, because PepsiCo competes much more broadly in the market for soda and cola. Also, although PepsiCo faces many competitors it does not operate in a perfectly competitive market; PepsiCo can affect soda and cola prices by some degree, and it does not take the price as given.
Please check more than one source since some websites give inaccurate examples. Many students in past semesters incorrectly gave bicycles as an example of a perfectly competitive market. Are all bicycles identical? Do bicycles all have identical costs of production? Also, dont just copy the examples given in the textbook and PPT slides. Finally, make sure you defend and/ or explain your examples; dont just guess.
Directions:
o Students may work in groups of 2. However, each group member must contribute to each topic; dont simply divide the assignment into pieces for each member to work on.
o Make sure to fully cite your sources within the text and include a references page.
o Do not use Wikipedia, Investopedia, or other pedias as sources.
o If a website gives confusing definitions and examples try another source.
o DO NOT simply copy and paste information from the Internet. (This is plagiarism.)
o For each question, define the type of market in your own words (paraphrase). Make sure to discuss all of the necessary assumptions. Be careful not to use an example as a definition.
o Provide at least one example for each type of market. Students working in groups of two must provide three examples for each question.
Research Assignment #3 BA 206 Levels of Competition
1. Perfect Competition:
(Hint: A perfectly competitive market has a very specific definition; it is NOT just a market with a decent amount of firms competing against each other.)
2. Monopoly:
(Hint: A monopoly is a single seller, NOT just a firm with a lot of market share. For practical purposes, try to find a firm that has (or has had) between 90-100% of a market.)
3. Oligopoly:
(Note: No points for the automakers or oil producers, thats too easy!)
4. Monopolistic Competition:
(Hint: Many firms fall into this type of market.)
5. What is a Monopsony? Provide a current, or historical, example of a monopsony. Although a pure monopsony is rare, a large company (Walmart for example) can have some monopsony-like market power. What does this mean?
(Hint: Most undergraduate textbooks in Labor Economics contain an entire chapter on monopsony. Your local city library and/ or college library will likely have Labor Economics textbooks in its collection.)