Final answer:
The kinked demand curve would be more pronounced in a cartel like OPEC where products are near-identical, as firms match price cuts but not increases, leading to highly elastic demand for price decreases and inelastic demand for price increases. If products are somewhat differentiated, the kink would be less pronounced due to the firms having some degree of pricing power.
Step-by-step explanation:
When analyzing whether the kinked demand curve would be more extreme or less extreme within a cartel producing a near-identical product like OPEC with petroleum, it is expected that the kink would be more pronounced, resembling a right angle. The primary reason is that each firm's product is nearly indistinguishable from the others, so if one firm lowers its price, other firms are likely to immediately match the price cuts, thus making the demand very elastic for price decreases. Conversely, if a firm tries to raise prices, other firms would maintain their prices, making the demand relatively inelastic for price increases, leading to a significant drop in quantity sold for the firm that increased the price.
In contrast, if each firm in the cartel produces somewhat different products, the kink in the demand curve would be less extreme. The differentiation amongst products grants individual firms some degree of pricing power, since consumers may not consider products from different firms to be perfect substitutes. Therefore, price changes by one firm would not be mirrored instantaneously or to the same extent by competitors, rendering the demand curve somewhat more elastic for price increases and less elastic for price decreases.