When a mercado It is fragmented and different buyers and sellers participate but none of them has enough power to influence the market equilibrium, we will say that there is an atomization of the economy.
This happens because the size of the buyers and sellers is not large enough to be able to influence the others; small or low influence companies. Therefore, the quantity and price that are derived from the market equilibrium does not depend on them but on other factors.
If agents compete independently (being atomized) and their actions have no repercussion on the final result of the market, we can say that the market is perfectly competitive.
Trying to get together to obtain greater benefits or advantages when selling or producing is in vain, since you do not have enough power for this to happen, nor will the number of agents be completely large.
Characteristics of atomization in economics
Among the characteristics of the atomization we will highlight the following:
- The amount that sellers offer is small in relation to the total offer. The incidence of the agents is miniscule, since they do not have sufficient capacity to be able to influence the market.
- Buyers of the products in demand are fragmented; each buying agent acquires little with respect to the total that is demanded
- The different agents, both bidders and demanders, act independently for obvious reasons. As we have mentioned, due to its size, it cannot form groups or create associations capable of generating influence over the market.
- Market agents take the prices facing the market as given. That is, the price It is what it is and nobody buys or sells above or below that price.