ECON 208 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Pareto Efficiency, Product Differentiation, Fixed Capital

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16 Apr 2013

School

McGill University

Department

Economics (Arts)

Course

ECON 208

Professor

Mayssun El- Attar Vilalta

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ECON 208 Full Course Notes

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Efficiency requires factors of production to be fully employed; however, there may still be waste of resources since factors of production may be used inefficiently: If firms don"t use the least-cost method of producing their chosen outputs = firms inefficient (cost for a single firm producing some level of output) If the mc of production isn"t the same for every firm in an industry = industry inefficient (total cost for all the firms in an industry) If too much of one product and too little of another product are produced = economy"s resources used inefficiently (level of output of one product compared with another) Productive efficiency for the firm: when the firm chooses among all available production methods to produce a given level of output at the lowest possible cost. Sr only 1 variable factor firm uses enough of the variable factor to produce the desired level of output.

Related Questions

1.Which of the following can be thought of as an adjustment for the risks involved with respect to the cost of a firm acquiring financial capital?

a.Cost of financial capital paid from firm

b.Higher retained earnings from past profits

c.Tax credits for physical capital investments

d.Imposition of hurdle rates of interest

2.If a firm is producing so that the point chosen along the production possibility frontier is socially preferred, then that firm is said to have reached its

a)minimum price efficiency

b)utility-maximizing efficiency

c)allocative efficiency

d)productive efficiency

3.When a firm uses retained profits to invest in more energy efficient equipment, an economist would calculate the _______________ of investing in physical capital.

a.Typical hurdle rate

b.Hurdle rate premium

c.Degree of risk

d.Opportunity cost

4.Deregulation occurs when a government eliminates or scales back rules relating to all but one of the following. Which one is it?

a.Conditions of entry in a certain industry

b.Natural monopoly

c.Prices that can be charged

d.Quantities that can be produced

5.A natural monopoly occurs when the quantity demanded is the minimum quantity it takes to be at the bottom of the long-run average cost curve

a.Greater than

b.Less than

c.Equal to

d. a or c above

6. The demand curve perceived by a perfectly competitive firm

a.Shows that such a firm is a price-maker

b.Shows economies of scale over a large range of output

c.Is horizontal

d. All of the above

rubydolphin112

1. suppose you work as a research economist at the EPA. Two firms operate in a perfectly competitive market. This implies that each has the same marginal benefit curve, which in this case is horizontal at MB= $100. Each of the firms, however, has a different marginal private cost schedule

MPC1=20+Q and MPC2=30+2Q

Each firm's production process creates externalities that are valued by society at $10 per unit output

a) show that without government intervention, the firms' profit-maximizing outputs are Q=80 for firm 1 and Q=35 for firm 2, and the market is $100

b) Now calculate that socially optimal level of output for each firm

c) your boss knows that the firms are currently producing too much output a simply decides that all firms should cut their output by 15%. Show that this is an inefficient solution to this externality problem

2. Suppose a new submarine for the Navy costs $10 billion. Half the population (130 million people) are willing to pay $100 each to have it, and the other half are willing to pay $30 each not to have it. Should it be built?

amberguinea-pig623

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

ECON 208 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Pareto Efficiency, Product Differentiation, Fixed Capital

ECON 208 Full Course Notes

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