The Market Environment

Abstract

This chapter describes the market environment and how competitive mechanisms influence supply and demand patterns. State influence, urbanization, and population density, along with a few other factors, are considered in analyzing the outcome in terms of the number of choices and the degree of variety provided by a particular industry. Changes in the past decades in market environments are described and analyzed, for example, changes in state regulation (many nations have witnessed deregulation and later reregulation), the emergence and growth of free trade, the supply of low-cost production, and the sustainability of cost structures. The theoretical roots of this chapter will come from the fields of marketing and industry analysis.