Competitiveness in industries
Last week’s article identified some of the characteristics of competition and the role that it plays in making an economy better. It was seen that competition removed the inefficiencies in production and improved the poor performance of economies; it was a driver of innovation and productivity; it acted as a defence against trade restrictions and as a facilitator for greater equality of opportunity. Competition also helped to alter the social structure of society. The article also focused on the concept of market structures and the spectrum of market structures, which stretched from one extreme to another, from purely competitive to non-competitive industries. In a perfectly competitive market, many buyers and sellers exist, there was perfect information and firms were price takers. At the other