GAME THEORY AND THE STRATGIC BEHAVIOR OF OLIGOPOLIES

Analysis of market structures is thearea of economics, where game theory has madethe greatest use. On competitive markets with manyparticipants, each participant seeks the bestsolution for himself/herself, ignoring the actions ofother participants. However, if the number ofparticipants is small and each of them has somemarket power, then each participant must take intoaccount the behavior of others. The analysis of suchmarket structures especially reflects the use ofgame theory. This paper analyzes oligopolisticmarket structure and strategic interaction betweenthe participants in this market. The paper considersa few most important models related to differentbehaviors of enterprises in oligopolisticenvironment. It also analyzes how firms inoligopoly can take strategic steps to get anadvantage or a better position relative tocompetitors. The aim of the paper is to examine thepossibility of applying game theory to analyzestrategic actions of companies in oligopolisticmarkets.