Turustruktuur

Turustruktuur, or market structure, is the arrangement of a market that shapes how firms compete and how buyers and sellers interact. It encompasses the number and size distribution of participants, the degree of product differentiation, barriers to entry and exit, and the flow of information. This structure influences pricing, output, innovation, and efficiency.

Key dimensions include market concentration, which reflects how sales are distributed among firms; product differentiation, from homogeneous to highly differentiated offerings; entry and exit barriers, such as capital requirements and regulatory constraints; and strategic behavior among firms, including pricing or product strategies. Regulatory environment and transaction costs also affect how markets function.

Common market structures are perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. In perfect competition many small firms offer identical products; in monopolistic competition many firms offer differentiated products; in oligopoly a few large firms hold substantial market power; in monopoly a single firm dominates the market.

Measurement uses metrics like concentration ratios and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, along with price-cost margins and entry/exit dynamics. Understanding turustruktuur helps explain price levels, consumer choice, innovation incentives, and welfare outcomes. It informs antitrust and regulatory policy, as well as business strategy, by highlighting where competition is strong or weak and where market power may emerge.

Limitations include the dynamic nature of markets, the role of institutions and network effects, and differences across industries. Turustruktuur is a foundational concept in economics for comparing industries and assessing policy and strategic implications.