Optimali rinkos struktūra: laisva konkurencija ir vartotojų suverenumas

Abstract

The article comprises the scientific literature based on analysis of the classical market structures: pure competition, monopoly, oligopoly and monopoly competition – in order to identify the consumer-optimal market structure. The optimal market structure is considered to be the one maximizing consumer surplus from the price-quality combination of the product. Nevertheless, the pure competition is traditionally considered to be the most effective market structure, the possibility of its existence in the real world is limited by its numerous assumptions, and thus the optimal market structure is searched for among the imperfect competition models. The analysis of the monopoly takes into account the circumstances of its establishment, distinguishing natural, administrative (closed) and economic (open) monopolies and their impact on consumer wealth. As for oligopoly and monopoly competition market structures, the product differentiation is indicated to be of primary importance to satisfy the individual needs of consumers. Also the relationship between the market structure and research and development intensity is touched upon to compare market structures’ effectiveness. The main criterion for defining the optimal market structure, developed throughout the paper, is the consumer sovereignty concept, that is the ability of sovereign consumers to indirectly affect the formation and further development of the market structure in a free from the government intervention or other artificial impact environment.