Imperfect competition

Imperfect competition in economic theory refers to the competitive situation in any market where the conditions necessary for perfect competition are not satisfied.

Forms of imperfect competition include:

• Monopoly, in which there is only one seller of a good.
• Oligopoly, in which there is a small number of sellers.
• Monopsony, in which there is only one buyer of a good.
• Oligopsony, in which there is a small number of buyers.

There may also be imperfect competition in markets due to buyers or sellers lacking information about prices and the goods being traded.