

firms are able to find out about cost-saving innovations that can lower production costs and prices, and they are able to learn about profitable opportunities in other industries. both buyers and sellers have access to all relevant information: consumers are able to find out about lower prices charged by competing firms.

buyers are able to choose from a large number of sellers of a product that the buyers regard as being the same. the product sold by each firm in the industry is a perfect substitute for the product sold by every other firm. there are large numbers of buyers and sellers: the quantity demanded by one buyer or the quantity supplied by one seller is negligible relative to the market quantity -> no one buyer or seller has any influence on price -the product sold by the firms in the industry is homogeneous: that is, indistinguishable across firms.
