Imperfect competition

This course is a part of AP®︎ Microeconomics, a 11-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

This unit introduces students to imperfectly competitive market structures: monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. Topics include firm behavior and efficiency in imperfectly competitive settings and game theory.

This course contains 5 segments:

Introduction to imperfect competition

Perfect competition might be perfect, but it's a pretty unusual market form. Competition in most markets can be described as imperfectly competitive. In this lesson, we discuss what it means to be imperfectly competitive and explore some examples of markets that are imperfectly competitive.

Monopoly

No, we aren't talking about the board game although the game does try to approximate what this tutorial is about--notice that you can charge more rent at either Boardwalk or Park Place if you own both (you have a "monopoly" in the navy blue market). The opposite of perfect competition is when you have only one firm operating. This tutorial explores what this firm would do to maximize economic profit.

Price discrimination

This short tutorial explores how a wine business can utilize first-degree price discrimination to maximize economic profit (it uses many of the ideas we've explored in the rest of this tutorial).

Monopolistic competition

Its little bit like a monopoly, and a little bit like a perfectly competitive market! In this lesson, we explore the characteristics of a monopolistically competitive market, the profit-maximizing behavior of firms in such a market, and the implications of this behavior on long-run profit and total surplus.

Oligopoly and game theory

Most markets sit somewhere in-between perfect competition and monopolies. This tutorial explores some of those scenarios--from monopolistic competition to oligopolies and duopolies. We also explore some of the foundational concepts of game theory, an analytical tool frequently used with oligopolies due to the interdependent nature of their pricing and the role of strategic behavior in their operations.