Though its name can sometimes cause confusion for students, the market structure we call “monopolistic competition” is so named because it has some features of monopoly and some features of competition.
a. In what ways is a monopolistically competitive market like a monopoly? In what ways is it like competition?
b. Which of the outcomes of monopolistically competitive markets is a direct result of its monopoly-like features? Which outcome is a result of its competitive features?
Can you summarize these results, so that they can be applied to product markets in general?