Question

Difficulty: MediumOligopoly: Characteristics, Types, and Price Interdependence

In a national cement manufacturing industry, seven operating firms account for the entire market sales. Their annual revenue figures (in millions of Naira) are: Firm A: N350\text{N}350, Firm B: N250\text{N}250, Firm C: N150\text{N}150, Firm D: N100\text{N}100, Firm E: N80\text{N}80, Firm F: N40\text{N}40, and Firm G: N30\text{N}30. What is the four-firm concentration ratio (CR4\text{CR}_4) for this industry, expressed as a percentage?

Answer: 85 %

Answer

The four-firm concentration ratio (CR4) for the industry is 85%.
The four-firm concentration ratio (CR4) measures market dominance by taking the sum of market shares (or revenues) of the four largest firms and expressing it as a percentage of total industry sales. Here, total revenue is N1,000 million\text{N}1,000\text{ million} and the top four firms contribute N850 million\text{N}850\text{ million}, yielding 85%85\%, which indicates a highly concentrated oligopolistic market.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Calculate the total industry revenue
Total Industry Revenue = N1,000 million
The total market size is needed as the denominator to determine the market share proportion.
2
Identify and sum the revenues of the four largest firms
Combined Revenue of Top 4 = N850 million
The four-firm concentration ratio measures the percentage of total industry output controlled by the four largest firms.
3
Calculate the CR4 percentage
CR4 = 85%
CR4 is calculated as (Combined Top 4 Revenue / Total Industry Revenue) * 100.

Key Concept

Four-Firm Concentration Ratio (CR4)
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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