Types of market. Market. Market functions. Market structure. Market economy

For many of us, the word “market” is associated with a place where you can buy or sell something, where you can bargain with the seller, bringing down the price, where there are always a lot of people, which is why there is noise, commotion, crowding, and besides, where there is sufficient selection of goods both in terms of cost and quality. It was like that simplest structure market at the dawn of economic development of society. Now this concept has expanded significantly, including several dozen types and categories. Among them there are those where there is no noise or jostling, and they do not have a specific place, since they cover a certain spatial financial and economic aspect of the world economy. But the main pillars of the market, on which it began its existence, remained the same. It's supply and demand. Whatever the structure of the market, no matter how it changes, it is on the degree of balance of these two immutable pillars that the further development economies in the world, the relationship between seller and buyer is determined, prices, wages and costs are adjusted, income is outlined that affects the development of enterprises, industries and the life of society as a whole.

Determination of market structure

The word "structure" in Latin means "structure", that is, the internal structure of something, as well as interaction individual parts a single whole. "Market" is a collection of such economic ties and relationships that are based on exchange transactions between producers and consumers. Based on these two definitions, we can conclude that market structure is the configuration (structure, types of activities, specifics, and so on) of sectors of the national economy that produce certain goods and carry out a number of aggregate financial and economic interactions. Simple human language speaking, the structure of any type of market is its components represented by producers and owners of a certain product (and these can be not only food or consumer goods, but also finance, labor, services, anything, even ideas), their interactions between yourself and with customers.

Market structure factors

Causes, driving forces, that is, the market structure factors that determine its economic position can be identified as follows:

  • vertical integration;
  • diversification of production;
  • product differentiation;
  • minimum effective volume;
  • import competition;
  • elasticity of demand;
  • advertising.

Vertical integration and diversification

Integration implies the merger in one company of different, but related to the same area of ​​business and successive industries. For example, oil magnates own gas stations, or someone who owns a metallurgical plant also acquires a machine-building plant. Economic structure market influenced vertical integration acquires the features of monopolization, since this process contributes to the strengthening of individual companies simultaneously in several markets and the weakening of competition.

Diversification can be called a relative of integration, only in this case the company, without going beyond the boundaries of its segment (for example, a machine-building plant), begins producing various goods of a general direction. In our example, the owner of a machine-building plant does not also acquire a steel foundry, but begins to produce not only passenger cars, but also buses, trucks, and other similar equipment, and thus wins a place in the sun in other markets. This factor also significantly strengthens the company’s position and helps it survive (for example, in the event of bankruptcy in the bus market, it will prosper at the expense of the truck and passenger car markets).

Product differentiation

Each of us encounters this phenomenon almost every day when we are faced with a choice: which brand to buy this or that product. For example, on store shelves there are many types of white wheat bread, which, in principle, are identical or very close to each other, but are called differently, packaged differently, and so on. The structure of the product market largely depends on differentiation, which consists in the specialization of the company in the production of similar products under different brands. They may differ in price, design, quality, terms of purchase (for example, promotions) and service after purchase (applies to, for example, household appliances), sales locations.

Differentiation always strengthens a company’s position in the industry on the market, because the commitment of some part of consumers to their favorite brand of product develops. So, in the example with bread, most often people choose the brand that they already know well, although, perhaps, next to the priority loaf there will be another one, no worse. This feature increases competition between companies producing similar products and encourages them to look for new incentives for buyers to purchase their products.

Product output of minimum effective volume

How does the market structure change depending on this factor? The main thing it influences is the number of companies that the industry can allow into its market. The output of the minimum economically effective volume of products corresponds to the minimum average production costs in each industry. Quantity effective companies is calculated by the ratio of demand for goods in the industry to this very minimum effective output. If it accounts for half the market, only 2 companies will be effective, and if the minimum volume of goods satisfies only 2% of demand, 50 companies will be effective. That is, the higher the minimum output of any goods, the fewer companies involved in their production the industry will allow to enter the market. The amount of costs can consist of the costs of advertising, the administrative apparatus, and the production of multiple brands of identical goods.

Import competition

It is no secret that the presence of any goods from foreign manufacturers on the market undermines the position of domestic manufacturers. This is especially noticeable when their manufacturers supply few goods to the domestic market, which can affect the market structure quite significantly. If a domestic manufacturer most exports its products, it cannot dictate its terms on the domestic market (loses its position).

Elasticity of demand

This concept means the ratio, as a percentage, of the change in the price of a product to the change in demand for it. The elasticity of demand does not allow for a continuous rise in prices, since such measures do not lead to an increase in sales volumes, generally do not compensate for costs and do not increase income. The development of the market structure largely depends on the elasticity of demand, since growth in demand makes it possible for more companies to enter the market and occupy their niche there. At the same time, the power of any one company weakens, competition increases, forcing the use of other market structure mechanisms, such as product differentiation or production diversification and, of course, the maximum use of advertising. On the one hand, expenses for it increase the company’s costs, and on the other hand, they strengthen its position in the market. Ultimately, advertising increases a company's bargaining power and reduces price competition.

Market structure and types

As noted above, there are now dozens of different types of markets, each of which has its own specific structure. It is convenient to group them according to the following principles:

1. Geographically:

  • local market (district, rural);
  • regional;
  • world.

2. For subjects of market relations:

  • consumer markets;
  • manufacturers;
  • government agencies.
  • goods;
  • services;
  • finance;
  • means of production;
  • intellectual property.

4. By assortment:

  • closed;
  • mixed;
  • saturated.

5. In relation to laws:

  • official;
  • black (shadow).

6. By saturation:

  • in short supply;
  • equilibrium;
  • excess.

7. On economic freedoms:

  • adjustable;
  • free.

8. By type of sales:

  • retail;
  • wholesale.

Some economists also divide market structures based on this classification. The difficulty of such a division is that each specific market, as a rule, combines several criteria at once. So, for example, the goods market can be regional, mixed, official (legal), equilibrium, free, wholesale and retail.

Market functions

As one of the types of commodity economy, which is based on exchange transactions between producer and consumer, the market performs the following functions:

  • informational (gives knowledge about products);
  • intermediary (exchange transactions between sellers and buyers);
  • pricing;
  • regulatory (leads to a balance in the economy between supply and demand);
  • stimulating (encourages manufacturers to introduce new technologies and expand the range of products);
  • coordinating (forces producers to produce goods at the lowest cost and highest profit);
  • health-improving (helps eliminate ineffective production).

Types of Market Structures

Based on the types of competition, the following main market structures are distinguished:


Principles of market structure analysis

For economic development, analyzing the state of the market in any industry is invaluable for both new manufacturing enterprises entering it and those already established there. This helps to identify strengths and weak sides competitors, determine effective production volumes, prices, development criteria, possible costs, and so on.

An analysis of the market structure must necessarily take into account the criteria on the basis of which each specific market is built, because each criterion brings its own priorities to the formation of the structure and the use of development factors. Based on an analysis of the market structure, enterprises develop projects for a system for managing market relations, the use of advertising, marketing, and other strategic actions in order to effectively sell their products and achieve maximum profits.

Finance market

This is one of the types of markets that has little in common with the concept of “bazaar” and means a system of relations between a seller and a buyer, the commodity for which is money. The structure of the financial market is the configuration, relationships and financial and economic activities of its individual parts of which it consists. These parts are the following markets:

  • Stock. His product is securities that give the right to profit.
  • Urgent. It carries out urgent financial transactions; it can be exchange-traded or over-the-counter.
  • Monetary. His commodity is money. May consist of credit, securities and eurocurrency markets.
  • Capital market. Here the commodity is the so-called long money, that is, such financial relations, which long term circulation - bank loans, bonds, financial derivatives (liabilities), mortgages.
  • Currency market. His product is foreign currency.

The essence and meaning of the financial market is to determine the most effective areas of investment to achieve the most profitable economic development, to redistribute Money, as well as in determining the situation with the economy as a whole.

World market

This term means a huge segment of the world economy, which is based on the same supply and demand, based on commodity-money relations, only on a state scale. The world market began with goods, but in currently expanded many times over. Now the structure of the world market includes the following components or, one might say, consists of the following individual international markets:

  • capital;
  • goods;
  • services;
  • work force;
  • information;
  • currencies.

This structure ensures the mobility of the turnover of services and goods, allows world prices to develop, and develops international division labor, provide political influence on the state of commodity exchange processes. In addition, the modern structure of the world market promotes globalization and integration.

Russian market

Russia is a huge country, possessing almost all the resources available in the world economy (raw materials, energy, labor, etc.), occupying leading place in the world for the development of new technologies, which has inexhaustible intellectual potential. Therefore, the Russian market structure consists of all types of markets noted above (except international).

A distinctive feature of our economy is that market relations in the country began to develop quite recently, from the 90s of the last century, and have not yet gained the necessary experience and power. Plus, Russian mentality, which grew up on the laws of socialist (public) property, does not allow the market economy to develop at the proper pace, which causes special treatment foreign investors. Thus, they assess the Russian stock market as promising high returns and high risks. Strengthening the Russian market is possible by strengthening the position of private property, developing small and medium-sized businesses, developing the national economy, and modernizing all production structures.

Market structure is the main characteristic features of the market, which include: the number and size of firms, the degree of similarity or difference between the products of different firms, the ease of entry into and exit from a particular market, and the availability of market information.

The characteristics of the market as a set or arena of acts of purchase and sale can be revealed through its structure, system and infrastructure.

Market structure is internal structure, location, order of individual market elements, their share in the total market volume. The characteristics of any structure are:

  • a) close connection between its elements;
  • b) a certain stability of these connections;
  • c) integrity, the totality of these elements.

The market has a complex structure and its influence covers all spheres of the economy. The economic structure is determined by:

  • * forms of ownership (state, private, collective, mixed);
  • * structure of commodity producers (state, rental, cooperative, private enterprises, individual enterprises labor activity), which depends on the share of one or another form of economic entities in the overall economy;
  • * features of the sphere of commodity circulation;
  • * level of privatization and denationalization structural divisions farms;
  • * types of trade used in the country.

These features leave a peculiar imprint on the market system, which acquires specific features.

Research into the structuring of markets allows us to identify the main types of markets. Markets for goods and services (Consumer market), which in our country until recently consisted of state and cooperative trade enterprises, public catering, collective farm markets and small enterprises of private, family and individual trade.

This group includes markets:

  • * consumer goods, food and non-food products;
  • * service markets: household, transport, utilities;
  • * housing markets 3 Until recently, the housing market in our country existed in the form of the purchase and sale of private houses, dachas and other properties of this kind, as well as cooperative apartments that could be bought and sold. In connection with the privatization of the public housing sector, we can expect the formation of a full-fledged housing market, not limited to a narrow zone of exchange or shadow sale “by agreement,” covering all types of living space. This will put an end to the blatant social injustice when some people (often wealthy) receive housing for free, while others buy it at full price. and non-industrial buildings.

Markets for factors of production. They include:

  • * real estate markets;
  • * tools;
  • * raw materials and supplies;
  • * energy resources;
  • * mineral.

Financial markets. This:

  • * capital markets, etc. investment The investment market is one of the varieties of the money market, in which the object of market relations is capital investments. markets;
  • * credit markets;
  • * securities markets Until recently, the securities market was represented only by the purchase and sale of government bonds, lottery tickets. Currently, the purchase and sale of shares, bonds, banknotes, checks, letters of credit, bills and other types of monetary obligations, represented by shares, bonds, options, warrants, futures contracts, etc., is carried out;
  • * monetary and monetary The market for money and currency was practically officially absent in our economy or was of a shadow nature. In an extremely limited form, the foreign exchange market covered only the sphere of external economic relations. The normal functioning of this market required the creation of stock and currency exchanges, where currency is sold and bought for rubles at the world, state, free and auction rates. markets.

Markets for intellectual products - innovations Market for innovations, i.e. innovations, inventions, rationalization proposals were practically absent in our economy. The transition to a market economy gives grounds to consider innovation as a commodity that should be sold at market prices, which should undoubtedly lead to an acceleration scientific and technological progress., inventions, information Services, works of literature and art.

Labor markets. They represent economic form movement of labor resources, in which labor migrates in accordance with the laws of a market economy. In our economy, labor was not the object of free purchase and sale due to its planned distribution, non-economic coercion to work and state wage rates, and the absence of a free system of hiring and firing. Until recently, the commodity nature of labor was denied. The development of the labor market presupposes the recognition of each individual’s right to freely sell his or her labor power according to own choice, desire and at a market price based on a contract between the employee and the employer.

Regional markets: local, domestic, national markets: external, international markets.

In addition to them, there are also:

The market for information products is a special market; the objects of purchase and sale here are books, newspapers, paintings, various types advertising and a great variety of other items and activities that provide people with the necessary information. We have such a market. But if we understand the information product in the broad sense of the word, including the intellectual one, i.e. scientific, cultural, spiritual, educational product, then the market for such products is just being formed. A certain distribution is received as an object of purchase and sale of computer programs.

The license market is part of the innovation market. The object of purchase and sale here are patent and non-patent licenses for the transfer of inventions, technological experience, industrial sectors and commercial knowledge, the use of trademarks, etc. This is technology trading. IN modern conditions License agreements are most widespread in international practice.

During the historical process of development of commodity production, markets were formed that went from ancient bazaars to modern organizations with computer equipment and electronic technologies.

In the broadest sense of the word, the market is a general form of interconnection between subjects of economic activity, through which the flow of goods, labor and capital is realized at various points in the economic space. From a functional point of view, the market can be defined as a set of economic relations covering the stages of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services, operating on the basis of the laws of value, demand and supply.

Modern markets are becoming more complex every year. Their use is now unthinkable without modern information technologies. Technical means of communication are also of great importance for their development. This is due to the fact that the effectiveness of investments largely depends on the efficiency of decision-making, since the market situation changes extremely quickly. Thanks to the use the latest systems communications and computers, information spreads almost instantly.

ESSENCE OF THE MARKET

The essence of the modern market can be defined as a set of economic relations between households, various types firms and organizations, primarily large companies, and the state, including supranational bodies, regarding the purchase and sale of goods and services in the sphere of circulation, as well as a mechanism for implementing such relations in accordance with the laws of commodity production and monetary circulation.

Market structure

The market is an organized structure that includes buyers and sellers, producers of goods (services) and their consumers. Their interaction leads to the establishment of market prices.

The market has its own infrastructure. Infrastructure is understood as a set of state and commercial enterprises and institutions that ensure the functioning of market relations. The main elements of market infrastructure are the trading network, customs and tax systems, banks and exchanges.

Market infrastructure is a system of institutions and organizations that ensure the free movement of goods and services in the market. This is a complex of elements, institutions and activities that create organizational and economic conditions for the functioning of the market, as well as a set of institutions, organizations, government and commercial enterprises and services that ensure its normal functioning.

The organizational base of the market infrastructure includes supply and sales, brokerage and other intermediary organizations, commercial firms of large industrial enterprises. The material base consists of transport systems, warehouse and packaging facilities, information systems and communications.

Market infrastructure leads to easier implementation commodity exchange operations, legal and economic control over them, increasing their efficiency and effectiveness, and providing information support. Depending on the type and type of market, there is a specific infrastructure configuration.

MARKET FUNCTIONS

The functions of the market are determined by the tasks facing it. The market mechanism is designed to find answers to three key questions: what, how and for whom to produce? To achieve this, the market performs a number of functions.

The regulatory function of the market ensures the constancy of the connection between different branches of production, demand and consumption, the establishment of proportions in the economy and the continuity of the process of reconstruction. The market reacts quite quickly to changes occurring in the economy. If demand for a product increases, producers will produce more of it, increasing the price. Saturation of the market with goods reduces demand and, accordingly, the price. Production will gradually decline. Thus, the market influences the pace, proportions, and renewal of production.

Pricing function. As a result of the interaction of producers and consumers, supply and demand for goods and services in the market, the market price is formed. It represents a kind of result, a balance between the costs of producers and the utility (value) of a given good for consumers.

Intermediary function. The market acts as an intermediary between producers and consumers, allowing them to find the most profitable purchase and sale option. In a developed market economy, the consumer has the opportunity to choose the optimal supplier, and the seller is given the opportunity to choose the most suitable buyer. As a result, sellers and buyers find each other.

Information function. The market is a rich source of information necessary for all its subjects. Constantly changing prices for products and resources provide objective information about the required quantity, assortment, and quality of goods supplied to it. The market, like a giant computer, collects, processes and produces generalized information within the economic territory it covers, informing society about the state of the economy.

Sanitizing function. The market mechanism constantly carries out “natural selection” among participants in economic activity. The market cleanses the economy of economically weak, non-viable entities and, on the contrary, actively encourages the development of efficient production.

The stimulating function of the market is that it helps to encourage those who use factors of production most rationally to obtain the best final results, using the latest achievements of science, technology, organization, labor incentives and management. The market encourages each commodity producer to save their individual costs and produce those goods that the buyer needs. In turn, it also encourages the buyer to care about the economy of consumption, about saving costs on the purchase of goods, and encourages him to compare the level of demand with the level of income.

Creative-destructive function. The market ensures dynamic changes in all economic proportions between industries and regions. It seems to explode the old structure of the economy and at each new stage of development forms a new structure.

Differentiating function. The market stratifies and differentiates commodity producers, that is, it enriches some and ruins others.

Incentive function. The market forces people to lead an active economic life: to show initiative, ambition, willingness to take risks and win in the struggle for better life. It is like a mirror, reflecting the weak and strong traits of human character.

Market elements

In order for the market to function successfully, three conditions are necessary: ​​the presence of private property in the economy, free prices and competition. In the market, purchase and sale relationships arise between different entities, acting either as sellers or buyers. Its main elements include: demand, supply and price.

Supply and demand in the market are balanced by price. If demand increases and supply does not change, then the price increases. Accordingly, if demand falls, the price also decreases. As supply increases and demand does not change, the price decreases. Accordingly, if supply decreases, the price rises.

CLASSIFICATION OF MARKETS

There are a huge number of types of markets, but certain characteristics make it possible to group them into separate groups: according to spatial characteristics, economic purpose and other characteristics.
1. By territorial coverage: global, national and local.
2. By type of competition:
a) the market of free (perfect) competition consists of large number independently operating sellers and buyers, where they all have equal rights and opportunities, and transactions are made in a wide range of prices;
b) an oligopolistic market is characterized by a small number of sellers, the general interdependence of producers, as well as the ability of an individual enterprise to predict the responses of competitors to changes in price or production volume;
c) a pure monopoly market. One seller with a product that has no analogue or substitute, which allows the manufacturer to dictate its terms to consumers. A monopoly on the demand side is called monopsony. If one seller is opposed by one buyer, the market structure is called a bilateral monopoly.
3. According to the degree of saturation: there are seller's and buyer's markets.
In the seller's market, a situation of “scarcity” arises, in which the amount of buyer demand for goods presented on it exceeds the amount of supply of these goods from the seller. Therefore, prices on it are usually high, as well as competition between buyers for the right to purchase goods.
A buyer's market is characterized by a situation of “excess”, in which the supply of goods exceeds the demand for them. In such a market, the rule is observed: “The buyer is always right!”, Therefore, prices there are usually low, and competition between sellers for buyers is high.
4. According to the organization of market exchange, markets are:
a) wholesale (purchase and sale of goods in large quantities, in large quantities);
b) retail (purchase and sale of single goods in small quantities). Typically, goods are sold at retail in stores, in sales tents, or by hand;
c) export (export of goods and capital abroad for sale on foreign markets);
d) imported (import of goods and other valuables from abroad for sale on the domestic market).
5. According to forms of ownership, private, cooperative and state markets are distinguished.
6. According to the degree of state regulation:
a) unregulated market. There is no government intervention in the market process. It is also called spontaneous or free. Here, sales volumes and prices are formed as a result of direct bargaining between sellers and buyers.
b) regulated market. On it the state establishes general rules participants' behavior.
7. According to the degree of legality, legal and illegal markets are distinguished:
a) legal ones have state permission to participate in the exchange sphere, that is, licenses for the right to trade, pay the required duties and taxes to the local or federal budget; b) illegal exist in two main forms:
- the “black” market is the most dangerous for society; Here, underground trade in goods prohibited by law for production, for example, drugs, takes place.
- the “shadow” market does not have a clearly illegal nature, but nevertheless also causes damage to the state. It may be located in the wrong place, its sellers may not have a license to trade or a certificate confirming the quality of the goods.
8. According to the form of sale of goods. There are markets for the sale of goods on credit or in installments, their payment is made in installments within the terms specified by the obligation. The form of selling goods in exchange for other benefits has still been preserved. It's called "barter".
9. Based on the object of purchase and sale, the following groups of markets can be distinguished:
a) commodity raw materials,
b) financial,
c) real estate,
d) land
d) labor.

Commodity and raw materials markets

Initially, the main purpose of the commodity market was regular communication between sellers and buyers of goods. All transactions were carried out with consignments of cash goods. Currently, almost all trade transactions on it are concluded in the form of futures contracts for these goods. The goods themselves are not presented on the market. However, the transaction clearly indicates the brand of the product, its quantity and delivery time. The seller does not transfer to the buyer the goods themselves, but a document that confirms ownership of the goods.

Commodity markets - compound element the country's economy. They serve as a mechanism that ensures connections between the sphere of production and the sphere of consumption, determining the distribution of goods in accordance with the size of demand and its relationship with supply. The commodity market is a separate market for goods or product groups, formed according to production or consumer characteristics.

A large number of transactions on the global commodity market are speculative, since there is no delivery of goods through them, but the difference between the sale price and the purchase price is paid.

The global commodity market is quite volatile, risky, unpredictable, requiring certain knowledge, skills and experience. Therefore, it is not recommended for novice investors.

Currently, about 70 types of different goods are traded on the global commodity market. All these products can be divided into three large groups. In accordance with these groups of goods, it can be divided into markets: finished products, raw materials and semi-finished products, services.

Financial markets

The global financial market is a set of national and international markets that ensure the direction, accumulation and redistribution of monetary capital between market entities through financial institutions in order to achieve a normal balance between supply and demand for capital.

In the financial market, the object of purchase and sale is financial resources. However, there is a fundamental difference in transactions in its various sectors. If in the credit market money is sold as such, i.e. they themselves are the object of transactions, then in the stock market, for example, the rights to receive monetary income, already created or future, are sold.

Financial markets can be divided into various subtypes: cash, capital, credit, derivatives, foreign exchange, insurance, mortgage.

Real estate market

A real estate market is a defined set of mechanisms through which property rights and associated interests are transferred, prices are set, and space is allocated among various competing land uses.

A product in the real estate market is a piece of land with natural resources belonging to it (soil, water, mineral and plant resources), as well as buildings and structures located on it. The main segments of the real estate market: housing, non-residential premises, land.

Land market

The basis for the formation of a land market is the ability to freely carry out land purchase and sale transactions on it, as well as providing it for rent. The land market is part of the system of land relations, the regulators of which are the right of ownership (possession, use, disposal), the possibility of transferring this right (rent, sale, pledge, etc.), competition ( free choice plot), monetary valuation and freely adding prices for land.

The land market creates conditions that stimulate its efficient use and forces individual entities to give up part of the land or the entire plot if it does not function effectively.

The main feature of the land market is the circumstance in which the supply of land at any given time is constant and cannot expand or decrease depending on price changes.

Labor market

Functionally - organizational structure In a developed market economy, the labor market includes the following elements: principles public policy in the field of employment and unemployment; personnel training system; hiring system, contract system;

unemployed support fund; system of retraining and requalification; labor exchanges; legal regulation of employment. In the labor market, a seller and a buyer meet, as in any sales transaction. Sellers are workers offering their labor power (ability to work), and buyers are labor collectives

or individual entrepreneurs who can independently decide how many and what kind of workers they require. The labor market, generally subject to the laws of supply and demand, has a number of differences from others commodity markets

. The regulators here are not only macro- and microeconomic factors, but also social and socio-psychological ones.

Advantages
The advantages of the market include:
a) efficient allocation of resources - it directs resources to the production of goods necessary for society;
b) the possibility of its successful functioning in the presence of very limited information - it is enough to have data on price and production costs;
c) flexibility, high adaptability to changing conditions;
d) optimal use of scientific and technological progress results;
e) freedom of choice and action of consumers and entrepreneurs. They are independent in making their decisions, concluding various transactions, hiring labor, etc.;

f) the ability to satisfy diverse needs, improve the quality of goods and services, and more quickly correct imbalances. The functions of the market indicate that the market organization of the economy cannot be ineffective. However, the market economy also has very significant disadvantages. It is unable to solve important socio-economic problems. These, first of all, include the satisfaction of those social needs that cannot be measured in money and converted into effective demand. IN modern society the range of such needs is very wide. No society can do without the apparatus of government, national defense, public order forces, fundamental science, environmental protection measures, education, healthcare, social protection

The market expresses a set of relations regarding the purchase and sale of certain types of goods. In each market, purchase and sale relationships arise between different entities, acting either as sellers or buyers.

The main elements of the market include:

In order for the market to function successfully, three conditions are necessary: ​​the presence of private property in the economy, free prices and competition.

What functions does the market perform?

  1. Regulating - the market acts as a regulator of production through supply and demand. Through the law of demand, it establishes the necessary proportions in the economy.
  2. Stimulating - through prices, the market stimulates the introduction of scientific and technological progress into production, reducing production costs and increasing quality, as well as expanding the range of goods and services.
  3. Informational - provides objective information about the socially necessary quantity, range and quality of those goods and services that are supplied to it.
  4. Intermediary - in a market economy, the consumer has the opportunity to choose the optimal supplier of products.
  5. Sanitation cleanses social production from economically weak, unviable business units and encourages the development of effective and promising firms.
  6. Social - the market differentiates the income of market participants.

What is the market structure?

Market structure:

1. by market objects

  • market of goods and services
  • capital market
  • labor market
  • financial market
  • information market

2. by geographical location

  • local
  • regional
  • National
  • world

3. according to the functioning mechanism

  • free competition market
  • monopolized market
  • regulated market

4. according to the degree of saturation

  • equilibrium market
  • scarce market
  • surplus market

5. in accordance with current legislation

  • legal market
  • illegal market

What is a market economy?

Market economy characterized as a system based on private property, freedom of choice and competition, which is based on personal interests and limits the role of government. A market economy guarantees, first of all, consumer freedom, which is expressed in freedom of consumer choice in the market for goods and services. Personal interest is the main motive and the main driving force of the economy. For consumers this interest is maximizing utility, for producers it is maximizing profit. Freedom of choice becomes the basis of competition.

Perfect competition assumes:

  • many buyers and sellers,
  • homogeneity of goods and services,
  • no price discrimination,
  • full mobility of all resources,
  • absolute information about prices.

In reality, there are circumstances that deviate significantly from the ideal and turn perfect competition into imperfect competition. This means that economic freedom exists as a potential, as an opportunity, the transformation of which into reality is modified by many circumstances and, ultimately, by the level of economic development.

The basis of a market economy is private property. It is a guarantee of compliance with voluntarily concluded contracts and non-interference by third parties.

Classic market economics is based on the limited role of government intervention in the economy. The government is necessary only as a body that determines the rules of the market game and monitors the implementation of these rules.

The market has a complex structure and its influence covers all spheres of the national economy.

The economic structure of the market is determined by:

forms of ownership operating in the economy (state, private, collective, mixed);

the structure of commodity producers (state, cooperative, rental, private enterprises, enterprises of individual labor activity), which depends on the share in the national economy of one or another form of functioning of economic entities;

features of the sphere of commodity circulation;

the level of privatization and denationalization of structural units of the national economy;

types of trade.

These features leave a unique imprint on the market system, which, due to these factors (primarily the variety of forms of ownership and multiple business entities), acquires its specific features.

By structure, markets can be divided according to the following criteria:

According to the economic purpose of objects of market relations:

markets for consumer goods and services;

capital goods markets;

markets for scientific and technical developments;

securities markets;

labor markets.

The formation of such markets involves a radical change in the entire system of interactions between enterprises; transition to the sale of goods based on direct connections. The most important tool Such a market is the creation of market structures in the form of commodity and stock exchanges, special bases, commercial centers, and a system of wholesale trade enterprises.

Markets can also be formed by product groups:

markets for industrial goods;

consumer goods markets;

food markets;

raw materials markets, etc.

Thus, in the market for agricultural raw materials, a fund of agricultural products is formed to meet the country’s social needs for food, as well as to meet production needs for agricultural raw materials. The formation of a market for consumer goods involves a sharp increase in the volume of their production, the expansion of competitive principles to satisfy the consumer demand of the population, and the creation of branded stores.

The formation of markets on a spatial basis represents markets:

intraregional;

interregional;

republican;

inter-republican;

international (world).

The formation of such markets is especially important in the context of the acquisition of state sovereignty by the republics and the conclusion of inter-republican agreements.

According to the degree of restriction of competition, monopolistic, oligopolistic, and inter-industry markets are distinguished.

According to the types of subjects of market relations, markets can be divided into:

wholesale trade markets, when enterprises and organizations act as buyers and sellers;

markets retail when the sellers are enterprises and organizations, and the buyers are individual citizens;

markets for public procurement of agricultural products, when the buyer is the state, and the sellers are direct producers of agricultural products (agricultural enterprises, farms).

Wholesale trade exists in two types. The first is the establishment of direct connections between suppliers and consumers. Typically, these kinds of connections are established within the framework of sustainable labor cooperation (textile and clothing factories, automobile and tire enterprises).

The second type of wholesale trade is the establishment of connections through wholesale bases, commercial centers, exchanges, when the supplier’s products are used by numerous small consumers (an enterprise that produces various bearings that are needed by hundreds and thousands of enterprises and organizations). Transition to wholesale trade possible by creating a developed market infrastructure (warehouses, bases, transport services, etc.).

6. Taking into account the observance of legality in the economy, markets are divided into: legal, official; illegal, “shadow”.

Types of markets. The study of market structuring allows us to identify the main types of markets:

Markets for goods and services. This group includes markets for consumer goods (food and non-food products); service markets (household, transport, utilities); markets for housing and non-industrial buildings.

Markets for capital goods. They include markets for industrial buildings and structures, tools, raw materials and materials, energy resources; mineral.

Financial markets. These include capital markets, i.e. investment markets, credit markets, securities markets, foreign exchange and money markets.

Markets for intellectual products - innovations, inventions, information services; works of literature and art.

Labor markets are an economic form of movement of labor resources in which labor circulates in accordance with the laws of a market economy.

Regional markets. Local and regional markets are distinguished on a territorial basis; domestic, national markets; external, international markets.