Featuring new chapters on casino gambling and the nursing home industry, and updated throughout, the new edition of this highly readable text analyzes well-defined industries from commodities and manufacturing to distribution and services, showing how firms compete with one another. Each study gives appropriate attention to government policies that have influenced competitive conditions in the industry, and the material is presented without the use of calculus so that anyone with some background in economic principles can benefit from it. The book provides balance in regard to the mix of industries dealt with, and also in the varying perspectives of the contributors.