ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with three main topics: the definition and measurement of industrial structure, patterns in industrial structure and the policy debate raised by changes in these patterns, and the measurement and analysis of industrial interdependence within economies. It examines the definition and measurement of market structure, its determinants, and the relationship between market structure and market performance. The chapter tabulates the main features of the industrial structure of the British economy over the period 1968-81, based respectively upon net output and employment data. The structure–performance model hypothesises that particular types of market structure are associated with particular types of market behaviour and performance. The chapter also examines the meaning and measurement of the four basic dimensions of market structure: seller concentration, buyer concentration, product differentiation and entry barriers. Major differences exist between the structure of different markets, and over time the structure of many individual markets also changes considerably.
