ECON 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Production Function, Profit Maximization, Marginal Product

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In making these choices, the profit-maximizing firm will try to be technically efficient: technical efficiency: when a given number of inputs are combined in such a way as to maximize the level of output. Total efficiency is not enough for profits to be maximized: the firm must also choose from among the many technically efficient options the one that produces a given level of output at the lowest cost. An firm that seeks to maximize profits in the long run should select the production method that produces its output at the lowest possible cost. Cost minimization: an implication of profit maximization that firms choose the production method that produces any given level of output at the lowest cost possible. If investing in labour produces more output than investing in capital, then the firm can reduce costs by spending less on capital and more on labour.

Related Questions

The statements below are about monopolistic competition. Indicate whether each statement is true or false by moving the true or false labels to the appropriate boxes.

1. A monopolistically competitive firm may be able to distinguish itself from other firms by adjusting the physical attributes of its product, by offering a distinctive level of service, or by selecting a convenient location. 2. Product differentiation enables a monopolistically competitive firm to have some control over the price of its product. 3. In the long run each monopolistically competitive firm produces a level of output that results in allocative efficiency. 4. In the long run each monopolistically competitive firm produces a level of output that results in productive efficiency. 5. To maintain a competitive edge and earn economic profits, a monopolistically competitive firm has an incentive to improve its product. 6. Compared with purely competitive markets, under monoplistic competition consumers with a diversity of tastes can benefit from the opportunity to choose from a greater range of products and services. 7. In order to maximize its profits, each monopolistically competitive firm must determine the price of its product, how to differentiate its product, and how much it will spend on advertising.

Q8. To arrive at a logical determination of a firm's optimum output, economists assume that the firm seeks to
a. maximize output
b. minimize cost
c. maximize profit or minimize loss
d. maximize price

Q9. So long as marginal cost is rising, average variable cost must rise.
a. true
b. false

Q10. As output increases, marginal cost increases, reaches a maximum, and then falls.
a. true
b. false

Q11. Which of the following is the best example of variable cost?
a. depreciation on a building
b. property taxes
c. wages
d. rent paid for one's building

Q12. If the AVC is $12, the AFC is $4, the AR is $20, and output is 6,000 units, the total profit is
a. $72,000
b. $48,000
c. $24,000
d. negative $96,000

Q13. Under perfect competition, if a firm is suffering a loss,
a. MR exceeds ATC
b. AR equals AVC
c. AR equals ATC
d. AR is less than ATC

Q14. Elaine's firm is in a perfectly competitive industry. Why doesn't Elaine try to sell more of her product by lowering its price below the market price?
a. her demand curve is not elastic
b. doing so would be considered unethical price chiseling
c. her competitors would not allow it
d. she can sell all she wants at the market price

Q15. In the long run, perfect competition results in firms producing
a. at the minimum point of their long-run average cost curves, which indicates allocative efficiency
b. where price equals marginal cost, which indicates economic efficiency
c. where price equals marginal cost, which indicates the optimal scale of operation
d. at the minimum point of their long-run average cost curves, which indicates economic efficiency

Q16. On a graph of average cost curves, the space between ATC and AVC represents AFC.
a. true
b. false

Q18. If MC equals MR at a point greater than ATC, the perfectly competitive firm will
a. sustain a loss
b. shut down
c. make an economic profit
d. expand output

Q19. Since all producers have the same average revenue under conditions of perfect competition, they all have the same profits in the short run.
a. true
b. false

Q20. If the entry of new firms in a perfectly competitive industry substantially increases the market demand for resources,
a. this reduces the market price of resources
b. this raises the market price of resources
c. the market price of resources does not change
d. this lowers the ATC curves of individual firms

Q22. Under conditions of perfect competition, profits exist whenever AR is above AVC at equilibrium output.
a. true
b. false

Q23. Under perfect competition, market price is determined by market demand and supply.
a. true
b. false

Q24. If one firm in a perfectly competitive industry is somehow able to produce at a lower cost than competing firms in the short run,
a. the competing firms will adopt similar production techniques in the long run
b. the more efficient firm will earn higher profits than the competing firms in the long run
c. the competing firms will earn higher profits than the more efficient firm in the short run
d. the competing firms will go out of business in the long run

1. To maximize profits, a firm should produce output up to the point where

A. marginal revenue equals marginal cost

B. price equals marginal cost

C. the gap between the demand curve and the ATC is the greatest

D. all of the above

E. answers a and b, but not c

2. Which statement is false?

A. a profit maximizing firm will increase production when price exceeds marginal cost

B. the lowest point on a firm's short-run supply curve is at the shut-down point

C. A firm will operate at that ouput where MC equals MR only when it is maximizing profits

D. A profit-maximizing firm will decrease production when marginal cost exceeds price.

3. which statement is true?

A. all monopolies are good

B. All monopolies are bad

C. Most natural monopolies are government regulated or government owned

D. None of these statements is true

4. There are _____ limits to monopoly power

A. no

B. some

C. many

5. Which statement is true?

A. the monopolist's most efficient output is her most profitable output as well

B. the monopolist charges a higher price than the perfect competitor in the long run.

C. all monopolists have control over an essential resource.

D. none is true

6. As a firm grows larger

A. economies of scale set in, then diseconomies of scale.

B. diseconomies of scale set in, then economies of scale.

C. economies of scale and diseconomies of scale set in at the same time.

D. neither economies of scale nor diseconomies of scale set in.

7. A monopolist operates at the minimum point of her ATC curve

A. only in the short run

B. only in the long run

C. in both the short run and the long run

D. in neither the short run nor the long run

8. A natural monopoly

A. has an average cost curve that reaches minimum possible average cost at a low level of output.

B. has a marginal cost curve that is steeply upward slopoing.

C. is usually subject to antitrust suits

D is usually allowed to choose its price so as to maximize profits in the United States.

E. occurs when a single firm can supply the entire market demand for a product at a lower average cost than would be possible if two or more firms supplied the market.

9. For a monopolist, the price of the product

A. always equals the marginal revenue

B. is always less than the marginal revenue

C. exceeds the marginal revenue

D. always equals the marginal cost of the product

10. Monopolies are usually viewed with concern from an economic standpoint since

A. size is ingerently dangerous; the larger ther firm, the more likely it is to squeeze out the "little producer"

B. resources may be allocated in an efficient manner.

C. the government may be put at the mercy of several large producers

D. always equals the marginal cost of the product

ECON 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Production Function, Profit Maximization, Marginal Product

ECON 110 Full Course Notes

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