The structure of personal consumption market in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper analyzes the number of intermediaries in the distribution chain, which has become a key determinant of prices, the most important condition under which market participants conduct business transactions. Thus, the aim of this study is to establish the structure of personal consumption market in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) by measuring the extent to which intermediaries control the market. In particular, this paper analyzes the market structures of intermediaries who can create a monopoly, an oligopoly or another type of market structure, rather than that of the manufacturers precisely because of their role and importance in setting retail the prices of goods and services for personal consumption. The study was conducted in the period 2005-2010 on a large and heterogeneous personal consumption market to identify the structure of personal consumption market in B&H for the first time from the perspective of intermediaries, with the principal aim of determining the current state of the intermediary market and establish the share of Bosnian & Herzegovinian household personal consumption expenditures that ends up on monopoly and oligopolistic markets. The insights obtained by analyzing personal consumption market enabled the prediction of the future intermediary market structures on the personal consumption market in B&H