🏷️ LIMITED TIME OFFER: GET 20% OFF GRADE+ YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION →
Log in
HomeClass Notes1,200,000US530,000

ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Perfect Competition, Oligopoly, Marginal Cost

15 views2 pages
School
Irvine Valley College
Department
Economics
Course
ECON 20
Professor
mcneil

For unlimited access to Class Notes, a Class+ subscription is required.

Document Summary

These are markets in which firms have some ability to set their own prices (they have market power), in essence they are not pure price takers. Different forms of imperfect competition exist and they include: Monopolistic competition - many firms, slightly differentiated goods. In perfectly competitive markets, firms face a perfectly elastic demand curve (they can supply as much as they want at the market price but cannot charge any higher) In imperfectly competitive markets, the firm faces a downward sloping demand curve. Economies of scale and the importance of fixed costs. Economies of scale is a huge factor in markets with high start up costs and low reproduction costs. As quantity increases, fixed costs are spread (since atc = fixed costs / quantity + Marginal cost) this means average total costs approach the marginal costs. Low cost producers draw more customers, allowing the firm to further utilise economies of scale. In these cases first mover advantage is important.

Get access

Grade+20% off
$8 USD/m$10 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
40 Verified Answers
Class+
$8 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
30 Verified Answers

Related Documents

ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Economic Surplus, Marginal Cost, Imperfect Competition
amaranthgrasshopper262
ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Perfect Competition, Diminishing Returns, Price Ceiling
amaranthgrasshopper262
ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Perfect Competition, Imperfect Competition, Market Failure
amaranthgrasshopper262

Related Questions

1. Which of the following is a difference between a perfectly competitive market and a monopoly?

A. There are huge barriers to entry in a perfectly competitive market, while there are no barriers to entry in a monopoly.

B. The market demand curve faced by a perfectly competitive firm is horizontal, while the market demand curve in a monopoly is downward-sloping.

C. The sellers in a perfectly competitive market are price-makers, while a seller in a monopoly market is a price-taker.

D. The equilibrium price in a perfectly competitive market exceeds marginal revenue, while the equilibrium price in a monopoly equals marginal revenue.

 

2. Which of the following firms is likely to have the highest market power?

A. An oligopoly with homogeneous products

B. A monopoly

C. A monopolistic competitor

D. A perfectly competitive firm

A. A competitive firm

  1. can consider only its location in setting the price.
  2. must base its competitive price on product differentiation.
  3. has the ability to set its own price.
  4. must accept the price determined by the intersection of the market supply and demand curves.
  5. has no supply curve.

B. If a firm is making an economic profit, then

  1. the factors of production are being paid their opportunity costs.
  2. there will be no change in the number of firms if the industry is perfectly competitive.
  3. the factors of production are being paid less than their opportunity costs.
  4. the factors of production are being paid more than their opportunity costs.
  5. the firm will exit the industry

C. Along a downward-sloping monopoly demand curve,

  1. marginal revenue is greater than price.
  2. the elasticity of demand is constant.
  3. marginal revenue decreases when the price decreases.
  4. marginal revenue is equal to zero when the price is equal to zero

D. If, in the short run, a perfectly competitive firm is producing at a point where the total cost is greater than total revenue, then the firm should

  1. shut down because economic profits are negative.
  2. continue to produce as long as P > AVC.
  3. continue to produce because accounting profits are positive.
  4. set a higher price for its output.
  5. set a lower price for its output

E. For a perfectly competitive firm, the demand curve is

  1. the marginal revenue curve.
  2. perfectly inelastic.
  3. always equal to marginal cost.
  4. the same as the market demand curve

F. A firm in a(n) industry will have the most elastic demand curve

  1. monopolistic
  2. oligopolistic
  3. monopolistically competitive
  4. perfectly competitive

G. If the demand curve of a monopolist is in the inelastic range, then

  1. total revenue will fall if the price increases.
  2. total revenue will be unchanged if the price increases.
  3. total revenue will rise if the price increases.
  4. the total supply will increase by an equal amount if demand increases.
  5. the price will be unchanged if total revenue increases

H. Monopolistic competition and oligopoly are examples of

  1. monopoly.
  2. perfect competition.
  3. theories of consumer behavior.
  4. imperfect competition.
  5. the extreme cases on the market structure continuum

I. Under which market structure do firms face the flattest (most elastic) demand curve?

  1. perfect competition
  2. monopolistic competition
  3. oligopoly
  4. monopoly

J. At the point of long-run equilibrium for a perfectly competitive firm,

  1. economic profits are zero.
  2. TR > TC.
  3. TR < TC.
  4. P = AVC.
  5. normal profits are zero.

1. When a profit-maximizing firm produces, they will be producing at that output at which marginal cost = marginal revenue:

  • all of the time
  • some of the time
  • on rare occasions
  • none of the time

2. Economics Profit is:

  • the same as accounting profit
  • sales minus explicit costs and implicit costs
  • sales minus variable costs and fixed costs
  • opportunity cost only

3. A market structure with so many firms that no one firm has any influence over price, and firms produce an identical product is called:

  • monopoly
  • oligopoly
  • perfect competition
  • monopolistic competition

4. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a perfectly competitive market?

  • identical products
  • perfect mobility
  • perfect knowledge
  • price maker

5. The demand curve in a perfectly competitive market is perfectly elastic.

  • true
  • false