EC 251H Chapter 3: Balancing Benefits and Costs

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17 Jan 2019

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3. 1 maximizing benefits less costs opportunity cost - the cost associated with forgoing the opportunity to employ a resource in its best alternative use net benefit - the total benefit derived less the total cost incurred increments (minutes, seconds, etc. ) Quantities, like time, are finely divisible and can be broken up into really small. Breaking apart units may help adjust the choice one makes. Benefit and cost curves can be used to find the best choice. Combining the curves can be used to find the largest possible net benefit. Decisions can also be made by examining the marginal effects. Captures how total benefit and total cost change as the activity changes marginal units - the last x units where x is the smallest amount that can be added or subtracted. Measures additional cost incurred because of the last x. Marginal cost is measured on a per unit basis.

Related Questions

Can you solve them and tell me if youre sure 100% 100% 100%

Question 1 (1 point)

If two variables move together but are otherwise unrelated, we have

Question 1 options:

a fallacy of composition.

an econometric model.

a spurious correlation.

an efficiency problem.

evidence of a weak correlation but strong causation.

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Question 2 (1 point)

The Latin expression "ceteris paribus": is essential in ______.

Question 2 options:

collecting data.

identifying sunk costs.

evaluating theories.

recognizing scarcity.

developing spurious relationships.

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Question 3 (1 point)

Opportunity cost is best defined as

Question 3 options:

marginal cost minus marginal benefit.

the time spent on an economic activity.

the value of the best forgone alternative.

the monetary cost of an economic decision.

marginal cost plus marginal benefit.

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Question 4 (1 point)

A cost that cannot be recovered at the time a decision is being made is termed a(n)

Question 4 options:

marginal cost.

scarcity cost.

sunk cost.

average cost.

opportunity cost.

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Question 5 (1 point)

If the marginal costs of 1, 2, and 3 hours of talking on the phone are $50, $75, and $105, then the total costs are

Question 5 options:

$50, $150, and $315.

$50, $41.67, and $115.

$50, 125, and $230.

$50, $175, and $405.

impossible to calculate with information given.

Save

Question 6 (1 point)

In general, individuals should specialize in producing those goods for which they

Question 6 options:

can produce more quickly than others.

can produce less quickly than others.

have the lowest opportunity cost compared to others.

have the highest opportunity cost compared to others.

have an average opportunity cost.

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Question 7 (1 point)

The extra benefit that comes from an extra unit of activity is called the _________ of the activity.

Question 7 options:

benefit

marginal benefit

marginal cost

average benefit

reservation benefit

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Question 8 (1 point)

The marginal benefit of an activity is the

Question 8 options:

same as the total benefits of the activity.

total benefit divided by the level of the activity.

change in the activity divided by the change in benefits.

extra benefit associated with an extra unit of the activity.

total benefit divided by the change in the level of the activity.

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Question 9 (1 point)

The fundamental problem that is studied in economics is that

Question 9 options:

consumers have limited wants in the face of unlimited resources.

markets should function without government interference.

Canada is too wealthy.

consumers have unlimited wants in the face of limited resources.

there are unlimited resources.

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Question 10 (1 point)

The range of topics, or issues, that fit within the definition of economics is

Question 10 options:

limited to market activities, e.g., buying soap.

limited to individuals and firms.

extremely wide, requiring only the ideas of choice and scarcity.

limited to governments and nations.

very limited.

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Question 11 (1 point)

When economists make predictions using the framework of a given economic model, it is usually based on

Question 11 options:

personal experiences.

important relationships between particular variables.

mathematical abstractions.

political implications.

the profit-maximizing objective.

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Question 12 (1 point)

The cost of spending an evening partying instead of studying economics is

Question 12 options:

the resulting decrease in the test score in Economics.

the time spent at the party.

the score of the test.

the cost of the textbook.

university tuition.

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Question 13 (1 point)

As one progresses from a one-person economy to a large, multi-person economy, the shape of production possibilities curve changes from

Question 13 options:

downward sloping to upwards sloping.

linear to convex (bowed into the origin).

concave (bowed out from the origin) to linear.

convex (bowed into the origin) to concave (bowed out from the origin).

linear to concave (bowed out from the origin).

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Question 14 (1 point)

Which is NOT a sunk cost?

Question 14 options:

Monthly rent of $1,000 contractually specified in a one-year lease.

An insurance premium of $50 per year, paid last month.

An attorney's retainer of $50,000 per year.

A worker's wage of $15 per hour.

A non-refundable deposit for a tender.

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Question 15 (1 point)

"We should support government intervention because the market produces undesirable outcomes" is an example of

Question 15 options:

positive economics.

normative economics.

comparative economics.

negative economics.

formative economics.

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1. When economists speak of "marginal," they mean
a. Opportunity.
b. Scarcity.
c. Incremental.
d. Unimportant.

2. Managers undertake an investment only if
a. Marginal benefits of the investment are greater than zero.
b. Marginal costs of the investment are greater than marginal benefits of the investment.
c. Marginal benefits are greater than marginal costs.
d. Investment decisions do not depend on marginal analysis.

3. A firm produces 500 units per week. It hires 20 full-time workers (40 hours/week) at an hourly wage of $15. Raw materials are ordered weekly, and they cost $10 for every unit produced. The weekly cost of the rent payment for the factory is $2,250. How do the overall costs break down?
a. Total variable cost is $17,000; total fixed cost is $2,250; total cost is $19,250.
b. Total variable cost is $12,000; total fixed cost is $7,250; total cost is $19,250.
c. Total variable cost is $5,000; total fixed cost is $14,250; total cost is $19,250.
d. Total variable cost is $5,000; total fixed cost is $2,250; total cost is $7,250.

4. Total costs increase from $1,500 to $1,800 when a firm increases output from 40 to 50 units. Which of the following is true if marginal cost is constant?
a. FC = $100
b. FC = $200
c. FC = $300
d. FC = $400

5. A manager of a clothing firm is deciding whether to add another factory in addition to one already in production. The manager would compare
a. The total benefits gained from the two factories to the total costs of running the two factories.
b. The incremental benefit expected from the second factory to the total costs of running the two factories.
c. The incremental benefit expected from the second factory to the cost of the second factory.
d. The total benefits gained from the two factories to the incremental costs of running the two factories.

6. A firm is thinking of hiring an additional worker to their organization who they believe can increase total productivity by 100 units a week. The cost of hiring him or her is $1,500 per week. If the price of each unit is $12,
a. The MR of hiring the worker is $1,500.
b. The MC of hiring the worker is $1,200.
c. The firm should not hire the worker since MB < MC.
d. All the above

7. A retailer has to pay $9 per hour to hire 13 workers. If the retailer only needs to hire 12 workers, a wage rate of $7 per hour is sufficient.
What is the marginal cost of the 13th worker?
a. $117
b. $9
c. $33
d. $84

8. If a firm's average cost is rising, then
a. Marginal cost is less than average cost.
b. Marginal cost is rising.
c. Marginal cost is greater than average cost.
d. The firm is making an economic profit.

9. After the first week of his MBA Managerial Economics class, one of your pharmaceutical sales representatives accuses you of committing the sunk-cost fallacy by refusing to allow him to reduce price to make what he considers to be a really tough sale. Which of the following suggests the sales representative may be right?
a. Most of the costs of drug development are sunk, not fixed.
b. Sales representatives are paid a sales commission on revenue, so they don't care about the costs of drug development.
c. Sales representatives don't worry that a low price today may make it more difficult for the company's other sales representatives to charge higher prices to their customers, tomorrow.
d. Sales representatives think only about one thing, sales.

10. A company is producing 15,000 units. At this output level, marginal revenue is $22, and the marginal cost is $18. The firm sells each unit for $48 and average total cost is $40.
What can we conclude from this information?
a. The company is making a loss.
b. The company needs to cut production.
c. The company needs to increase production.
d. Not enough information is provided.

MULTIPLE CHOICE.

1) Which of the following is true of the typical relationship between marginal product (MP) and average product (AP)?

A) The AP curve intersects the MP curve at minimum MP.

B) If MP is less than AP, then AP is increasing.

C) If MP is greater than AP, then AP is falling.

D) The MP curve intersects the AP curve at maximum AP.

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.

2) If, for a particular short-run production, we observe that marginal product is decreasing we can conclude that average product is decreasing as well.

MULTIPLE CHOICE.

3) An implicit cost is defined as:

A) the amount by which the money spent on an input to production exceeds its opportunity cost.

B) the difference between an input's explicit cost and its actual cost.

C) the opportunity cost of using a resource that is not explicitly paid out by the firm.

D) the amount by which economic profit exceeds accounting profit.

MULTIPLE CHOICE.

4) The amount of output a firm can produce with a given quantity of fixed and variable inputs is called:

A) total fixed product.

B) average variable product.

C) marginal product.

D) total product.

5) Which of the following statements is true of the relationship among the average cost functions?

A) AFC = ATC + AVC

B) ATC = AFC - AVC
C) AVC = AFC + ATC

D) AFC = ATC - AVC

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.

6) A firm's production function is the relationship between the factors of production and the resulting outputs of the production process.

MULTIPLE CHOICE.

Scenario 2:
Output (Q): 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Total Cost (TC): $24 $33 $41 $48 $54 $61 $69

7) Refer to Scenario 2. Diminishing marginal returns starts to occur between units:

A) 2 and 3.

B) 3 and 4.

C) 4 and 5.

D) 5 and 6.

8) Which of the following would be classified as a short-run decision?

A) trucking firm's decision to move to a smaller facility.

B) A firm's decision to decrease the amount of electricity used in day-to-day operations by encouraging employees to adopt conservation strategies, e.g., shut off lights when leaving a room.

C) A university's decision to add a new residence hall.

D) A restaurant's decision to increase the number of patrons it can accommodate by adding on a new dining room.

9) Economic profit is equal to the difference between: 9)

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.

10) At the point where a firm incurs diminishing marginal returns, total product will begin to decline.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

11) In the context of a production function, the remote order takers in the fast food industry would be classified as:

A) a fixed input.

B) a marginal input.

C) an inframarginal input.

D) a variable input.

Scenario 3:
Total Product (Q): 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Total Cost (TC): $50 $80 $105 $125 $155 $195 $250

12.

13.

increase; lower

decrease; lower

increase; higher

decrease; higher

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.

14.

15.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

16) A labor-intensive method of production is one that:
A) combines a small but sophisticated labor force with a large amount of capital.

B) requires employees to work harder than they would in other occupations.
C) relies on large quantities of labor and smaller quantities of capital equipment. D) relies exclusively on labor.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

17) Assume a firm produces 500 units of a good by using two inputs, capital and labor, whose per unit prices are $10 and $4. Assume also that the marginal physical product of the last unit of capital is 30 and the marginal physical product of the last unit of labor is 10. To minimize costs this firm should employ:

A) more labor and less capital. B) more capital and less labor.
C) the existing combination of resources. D) both more labor and more capital.

TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.

18) All else constant, a decrease in the per unit price of labor would create an incentive for a firm manager to substitute labor for capital in the firm's production process.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

19) All else constant, as the price of petroleum increases relative to the prices of other inputs to the production process, in their effort to minimize their total costs of production, we can expect to see firms employ:

A) the same amount of petroleum since there are no substitutes for petroleum. B) less petroleum and more of the other inputs to production.
C) less of each of the inputs of production.

D) more petroleum and less of the other inputs to production.

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EC 251H Chapter 3: Balancing Benefits and Costs

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