This study analyzes the degree of competition in the oil refinery market in Korea, which is considered an oligopoly market. The price of gasoline and diesel and the quantity of supply are used to identify the market competition. We also analyze whether the oil tax reduction policy has affected market competition. The competitiveness of the market was examined using monthly data from 2008 to 2019. Bresnahan- Lau method was employed to estimate the degree of competition in the oil refinery market, which is frequently used in the industrial studies. The analysis shows that the gasoline and diesel markets seem close to a perfect competitive market. Also, the tax cut has weakened market competition. In other words, the monopolistic power has increased in the market, so consumers have not benefit from the price cuts as much as tax cuts. Although the oil refinery market where four major companies are competing, the government’s monitoring and price disclosure system help the market to be highly competitive as much as a perfect competition market. The tax cut, in the high oil price era, has a negative effect on the competition because of an information asymmetry about the price-setting process between suppliers and consumers.

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Data
4. Methodology
    4.1. Theoretical Model
    4.2. Empirical Model
5. Estimation Results
    5.1. Gasoline
    5.2. Diesel
    5.3. The Effects of Tax reform on the Oil RefineryMarket
6. Discussion and Conclusions
References

• Heedae PARK(Korea Maritime Institute) Corresponding Author.