Oligopoly, Monopoly and Duopoly Market Structure in Australian Healthcare industry

Running Head: HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA
Economics for Business Assignment
Oligopoly, Monopoly and Duopoly Market Structure in Australian Healthcare industry

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA Page 1 of 9
Australian Healthcare: Optimal Market Structure
(by: Student Name)
A nation cannot progress without a stable and well-established healthcare industry.
Healthcare industry faces a cut-down in expenditure owing to the bill of National Health
Amendment Pharmaceutical Scheme (2010). The industry comprises of the pharmaceuticals,
biotechnology and medical practice (Australiance, 2016). Healthcare plays an important role
in the prevention of diseases. It is important to promote a healthy living to assess, prevent and
manage chronic and other diseases. Lifestyle plays a vital role in the same (Harris & Lloyd,
2012). The paper analyses the role of market structure to assess and increase the affordability
and accessibility of healthcare facilities.
It is important to study the various forms of market to find the best possible form which will
benefit the society as a whole. They key players are the consumers, producers, government
and the society. A consumer or patient would like to reside in a nation which has low-cost
and high-quality healthcare. On the other hand, a producer would like to function in a nation
with preferred market structure which has easy entry and exit, promotes research and
provides high profits. The society wants to maximise its welfare. On the basis of competition
level, a market can take many forms like perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and
monopolistic competition.
Figure 1: Market structure on the basis of competition

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA Page 2 of 9
(Singh, 2016)
Figure 2: Level of competition and concentration in different market structures
(Economics Online, 2018)
Figure 3: Features of different market structures
(Chand, 2018)