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Monopolistic Competition and
Oligopoly

10

FIGURE 10.1 Competing Brands? The laundry detergent market is one that is characterized neither as perfect

competition nor monopoly. (Credit: modification of “DSC_7174” by Pixel Drip/Flickr Creative Commons, CC BY 2.0)

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Monopolistic Competition

• Oligopoly

Introduction to Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

BRING IT HOME

The Temptation to Defy the Law
Laundry detergent and bags of ice—products of industries that seem pretty mundane, maybe even boring. Hardly!

Both have been the center of clandestine meetings and secret deals worthy of a spy novel. In France, between 1997

and 2004, the top four laundry detergent producers (Proctor & Gamble, Henkel, Unilever, and Colgate-Palmolive)

controlled about 90 percent of the French soap market. Officials from the soap firms were meeting secretly, in out-
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