Comparative Analysis of Market Structures: Ford and ConEd

This report examines the market structures of Ford Motor Company and Consolidated Edison Energy Company, providing a comparative analysis of oligopolistic and monopolistic market structures. The report begins by identifying Ford as operating within an oligopolistic market and ConEd as holding a monopoly in the New York metropolitan area. It then explores the equilibrium points for each market structure, explaining how companies optimize profits through marginal cost and revenue analysis. The report highlights the key differences between oligopolistic and monopolistic structures, including the number of firms, barriers to entry, and product differentiation. The author references sources to support the analysis, offering a concise overview of the characteristics and dynamics of these market structures. This assignment is designed to help students understand the fundamental principles of market analysis.

Running head: EVALUATING STRUCTURES OF MARKET 1
Evaluating Structures of Markets
Name of the student
Institution Affiliation

EVALUATING STRUCTURES OF MARKET 2
Evaluating Structures of Markets
Firms selected
The two companies that I chose are Ford Motor Company and Consolidated Edison
Energy Company. Ford Motor Company has an oligopolistic structure since it is automobile
manufacture which is an oligopolistic market structure. Consolidated Edison Energy Company,
on the other hand, has a monopolistic structure in the New York market because it is a single
energy company supplying energy in the New York metropolitan area (Wright, 2019). Thus,
even though Consolidated Edison has other competitors in the US, it enjoys a monopoly in the
New York metropolitan area.
Equilibrium points for the two market structures
For an oligopoly market structure, the oligopolists such as Ford Motor Company
optimize their profits by equating marginal costs with marginal revenue which gives an
equilibrium price as well as an equilibrium output. The companies with monopolistic market
structures achieve equilibrium when the marginal revenue is at the same level as the marginal
cost. Thus, whenever the marginal revenue is more than marginal costs of the company will
continue with production.
Description of the market structures
There is a clear distinction between companies that have an oligopolistic market structure
and a monopolistic market structure. An oligopolistic market structure is characterized by
differentiated goods, few numbers of firms, and several barriers to entry. Some of the barriers
may be the high cost of investment and stiff competition, among others. Unlike the oligopolistic
structure the monopolistic market structure is characterized by only a single firm in the market
with one good and no entry at all in the market (Wu, 2013). Although the oligopolistic market

EVALUATING STRUCTURES OF MARKET 3
structure continues to exist in many industries within the United States, the monopolistic market
structure are greatly diminishing.
References
Wright, L. B. (2019, March 10). Are there monopolies in 2019? Retrieved April 17, 2020, from
https://news.law.fordham.edu/jcfl/2019/03/10/are-there-monopolies-in-2019/
Wu, T. (2013, April 15). The oligopoly problem. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-oligopoly-problem