What are some similarities and differences between monopolies and oligopolies?

There exist some similarities and differences between monopolies and oligopolies which are:

• Similarities.

Both monopolies and oligopolies exhibit imperfect competition. They also have significant market control over given products and services and both are made up of large organizations. Both monopolies and oligopolies are affected by aspects such as an increase in production result in reduced prices of goods and services. Additionally, both market structures are entitled to copyrights for specific services and goods that they provide.

• Differences.

A monopoly is a market structure where there exists only one seller who deals with a unique product or service in a market and there exists no substitutes for the product, while an oligopoly is a market structure where there exist a few sellers dealing with close substitutes of products and services in the market. In a monopoly, the seller controls the prices while in an oligopoly, competition in the market regulates the prices of products and prices. In a monopolistic structure, the barriers to entry or to exist are high as the industry is capital intensive while in oligopoly, entry barriers in the industry are high due to economies of scale.