ECON 306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Opportunity Cost, Externality, Normal Good

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24 May 2017

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Review of isoprofit curve and effective safety regulation: Case were a firm hiring risk-seeking people because the price of safety is expensive for them: If the firm stays on its isoprofit curve, the wage becomes too low and the workers have other options with other firms i. e. getting the same level of safety with other firms. Regulation standard will force this type of firm to shut down. What can also happen is the firm"s i curve to shift outwards but it will then make negative economic profit and shut down too. Firms that provide additional safety will provide a lower w and reduce worker utility. This analysis suggests that the regulations stipulating a minimum safety standard is not socially optimum. (net overall reduction in utility) However, this analysis suggests we live in a perfect world: No effect on third parties (no externalities) What happens in the real world: imperfect information.

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20) When price is less than average variable cost at the profit-maximizing level of output, a firm should: A) continue to produce the level of output at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost if it is operating in the long run. B) shutdown, because it cannot even cover all of its variable costs let alone its fixed costs if it stays in business. C) shutdown, because it will lose nothing in that case. D) continue to produce the level of output at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost if it is operating in the short run. 21) When price is greater than average variable cost but less than average total cost at the profit-maximizing level of output, a firm should: A) continue to produce the level of output at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost. B) shutdown to minimize its losses. C) reduce output to the level at which price equals average variable cost to minimize its losses. D) increase output to minimize its losses. 22) Assume that at the current market price, a perfectly competitive firm's profit-maximizing level of output yields total revenues that are just equal to total costs. Which of the following statements applies to this firm? A) The firm should increase its explicit costs to reduce its tax burden. B) The firm should shut down right now. C) The firm should continue to operate in the short run to minimize losses, but shut down if things don't improve over the long run. D) The firm is earning zero economic profit and should continue to operate. 23) The perfectly competitive firm's supply curve: A) coincides with its perfectly elastic demand curve. B) is the firm's average total cost curve above the shutdown point. C) is perfectly inelastic at the market price. D) is the firm's marginal cost curve above the minimum point on the AVC curve. 24) Assume there is a decrease in the market demand for a good sold by price-taking firms that are initially producing the profit-maximizing level of output. How will the market adjust over time? A) Firms will exit the market, causing price to rise until losses are eliminated. B) Firms will exit the market, causing price to fall until positive profits are eliminated. C) Firms will enter the market, causing price to fall until positive profits are eliminated. D) Firms will enter the market, causing price to rise until losses are eliminated. 25) What is the "most efficient capacity" for the perfectly competitive firm? A) The plant size for which Price = AR. B) The plant size at which LRAC is at its minimum. C) The plant size at which MR = MC. D) The plant size at which any of the SRATC curves are tangent to the LRAC curve.

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11.) Which statement is false?
A. The minimum point of the AVC curve is the shutdown point.
B. The minimum point of the ATC curve is the breakeven point.
C. The firm's short-run supply curve runs up the marginal cost curve from the shutdown point all the way up the curve.
D. None of these statements are false.
12.) Which statement is false?
A. The firm's short-run supply curve runs along the MC curve from the shutdown point to the break-even point.
B. The MC curve intersects the ATC curve at the latter's minimum point.
C. Total revenue = price x output sold.
D. None of these statements are false.

26.) If the price were $25, this firm would _______ in the short run and _______ in the long run.
A. shut down; stay in business
B. shut down; go out of business
C. operate; stay in business
D. operate; go out of business

22.) If price is above the break-even point, in the short run the firm will _____ and in the long run the firm will _____.
A. shut down; stay in business
B. shut down; go out of business
C. operate; go out of business
D. operate; stay in business

8.) Which statement is true?
A. Because they are the only seller in the industry, the monopolist does not have to lower their price to sell more output.
B. Most firms in the United States are monopolies.
C. Unlike the perfect competitor, the monopolist does not necessarily produce at that output where MC = MR.
D. None of these statements are true.

15.) In the United States, natural monopolies
A. are easily converted to competitive industries.
B. are common in retailing.
C. are commonly regulated by governments.
D. are rarely regulated by governments.

21.) If a monopoly firm can sell its eighth unit of output for a price of $175, it may expect to receive a price __________ in order to sell more than eight units.
A. of more than $175
B. of $175
C. of less than $175
D. of $100

27.) Which statement is true?
A. Since the monopolist is the only firm in the industry, its profit is calculated differently from the way a perfect competitor would calculate profit.
B. The monopolist's demand curve and marginal revenue curve are the same line.
C. In the long run under monopoly, the most efficient output is the most profitable output.
D. A monopolist may lose money in the short-run

1. âTotal compensationâ includes:

a. Wages and salaries and all fringe benefits

b. Wages and salaries and public (legally mandated) fringe benefits only

c. Wages and salaries and private (nonmandatory) fringe benefits only

d. Wages and salaries and all fringe benefits net of all personal taxes

2. Fringe benefits currently account for approximately what percentage of total compensation?

a. 5% â 10%

c. 25% â 30%

b. 15% â 20%

d. 35% â 40%

3. As a percentage of benefits, the largest share goes to:

a. retirement and savings

c. paid leave

b. insurance

d. legally required benefits

4. The proportion of total compensation paid out as fringe benefits tends to be larger in:

a. high-paid industries compared to low-paid industries

b. service industries compared to manufacturing industries

c. white-collar occupations compared to blue-collar occupations

d. retail trade compared to transportation and public utilities

5. The share of fringe benefits in total employee compensation:

a. grew steadily in the 1960s and 1970s but has fallen since 1980

b. was unchanged in the 1960s and 1970s and has fallen since 1980

c. shrank in the 1960s and 1970s and has remained constant since then

d. grew steadily from 1960 through the mid-1990s

6. Which one of the following is not a valid explanation for why workers may prefer an extra dollarâs worth of fringe benefits to an extra dollarâs worth of cash?

a. workers may prefer to bind themselves against their own tendencies toward immediate gratification

b. certain fringe benefits effectively trade current taxes for future taxes

c. people generally prefer in-kind benefits to cash

d. certain fringe benefits are untaxed

7. Because there is a _______ marginal rate of substitution of fringe benefits for wages, a workerâs wage-fringe indifference curves are typically _______:

a. diminishing; convex to the origin

b. constant; straight lines

c. diminishing; concave to the origin

d. negative; straight lines

8. The slope of a wage-fringe indifference curve reflects:

a. the overall utility level of a person

b. a workerâs willingness to give up an extra dollar of wages in exchange for an extra dollar of fringe benefits

c. the firmâs cost of paying an extra dollar of compensation as wages rather than fringe benefits

d. an increasing marginal rate of substitution of fringe benefits for cash 2

9. An individual wage-fringe isoprofit line shows:

a. combinations of wages and fringe benefits that result in constant dollar values of total compensation

b. combinations of wages and fringe benefits that result in the same profit to the firm

c. the greatest possible profit attainable from a given level of fringe benefits

d. the greatest possible profit attainable from a given level of wages

10. The slope of a wage-fringe isoprofit curve reflects:

a. the overall profitability of the firm

b. a workerâs willingness to give up an extra dollar of wages in exchange for an extra dollar of fringe benefits

c. the relative âpriceâ of fringe benefits compared to wages

d. an increasing marginal rate of substitution of fringe benefits for cash

11. The firmâs wage-fringe isoprofit curve typically has a slope less than 1 (absolute value) because:

a. fringe benefits confer tax advantages on workers

b. on average, it costs firms more to purchase fringe benefits than workers

c. the composition of fringe benefits may increase worker productivity

d. increasing the proportion of compensation received as fringe benefits reduces a firmâs profit level

12. If a firm can offer fringe benefits worth more than one dollar for a one dollar reduction in wages:

a. the wage-fringe isoprofit line will be upward-sloping

b. the wage-fringe isoprofit line will have a slope less than one in absolute value

c. the marginal rate of substitution between wages and fringe benefits will be greater than one at the wage-fringe optimum

d. as a proportion of total compensation, fringe benefits will likely exceed one half

13. The employerâs share of the Social Security and Medicare components of the payroll tax has increased, from 6.13% in 1980 to its current rate of 7.65%. Because employers pay no payroll tax on many fringe benefits, this change in tax rates has effectively:

a. reduced the âpriceâ of fringe benefits, increasing the slope of the wage-fringe isoprofit line

b. increased the âpriceâ of fringe benefits, increasing the slope of the wage-fringe isoprofit line

c. reduced the âpriceâ of fringe benefits, reducing the slope of the wage-fringe isoprofit line

d. increased the âpriceâ of fringe benefits, reducing the slope of the wage-fringe isoprofit line

14. The trend of fringe benefits as a percentage of total compensation can be partially explained by the fact that:

a. tax reform has rendered many types of fringe benefits fully taxable

b. âin-kindâ benefits restrict workersâ consumption choices

c. the firm may be able to purchase fringe benefits more cheaply than workers

d. many types of fringe benefits are income inelastic

15. Fringe benefits will tend to be a greater proportion of total compensation, the:

a. more income elastic are fringe benefits

b. more they increase worker turnover

c. lower the employerâs share of the Social Security tax

d. less there are economies of scale in purchasing fringe benefits 3

16. Which of the following is not a cause of fringe benefit growth?

a. Tax advantages to the employer

b. Efficiency considerations

c. Economies of scale

d. Fringe benefits are income inelastic

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ECON 306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Opportunity Cost, Externality, Normal Good

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