Friday 15 December 2017

Demand without free entry

When a firm is deciding whether it is going to supply, we usually consider the costs of  production and the revenues. When firms want to gain more customers, they would like to increase their expenditures on advertising, the expenditure is counted as part of the cost of production. 
However, the demand in the market is not infinite. Even if we make a good free, people still face some constraints to consume the good, for example, they could have time constraint to consume the good. The limitation of the market means the firms' supply decisions are not only constrained by the costs of production, but are also constrained by the size of the market. Therefore, to make supply decisions, it is important to know what determines the size of the market. 
My opinion is that the limitation of the market size is caused by there is a cost for consumer to enter the market. As I mentioned above, consumers need to spend time on entering a market. Moreover, consumers have to choose between different markets, some markets can be complement, some can be substitute.  Modern days, we can see more and more specific markets. Consumers would like to spend more time in the markets that they think are interesting, which means they would like to have more information about the suppliers. In such market, the firms have to spend resources on their public image. In some markets, consumers do not spend so much time on studying the market, the only thing they care is the price. For example, people do not care about the brand of their lamps when comparing with their smartphones. In such market, prices become the key determinant.


To conclude, starting a business in the sector where people care the most is the easiest and the hardest. It is easy because it is unlikely to get oneself into a barbarian price competition, it is hard because consumers know more information. 

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