Paper 3 · Production and Costs
Horizontal integration takes place when
Atwo firms at the same stage of production in the same industry join together
Ba firm joins with a business in a completely unrelated line of trade
Ca manufacturer buys the chain of shops through which its goods are sold
Da firm joins with its own supplier of raw materials further back in the chain
Explanation: Horizontal integration links firms doing the same job in the same industry, such as one bakery merging with another. Joining with a supplier is backward vertical integration, buying the retail outlets is forward vertical integration and combining unrelated trades is a conglomerate merger.
Derived from ZIMSEC Economics 4050/3 Paper 3, June 2023, Q6