EC111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Monopolistic Competition, Average Variable Cost, Profit Maximization

61 views9 pages

pinkfox758

18 Dec 2016

School

Department

Course

Professor

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

Document Summary

Monopolistic competition describes a market where many producers offer products that are substitutes but are not viewed as identical by consumers. Because the products of different suppliers differ slightly - for example, some convenience stores are closer to you than others - the demand curve for each is. Each supplier has some power over the price it can charge. No buyer can influence the price however. The firms that populate this market are not price takers, as they would be under perfect competition, but, rather, are price makers. Because barriers to entry are low, firms in monopolistic competition can, in the long run, enter or leave the market with ease. In perfect competition, the product is a commodity, meaning it"s identical across producers (bushel of wheat or ounce of gold) In monopolistic competition, the product differs somewhat among sellers, as with the difference between one rock station and another. Sellers can differentiate their products in four basic ways:

Related Questions

If I were to open a business, I would choose the monopolistic competitive market.

Under monopolistic competition, with low barriers to entry and low capital requirements, firms are free to enter into or exit from the industry at any time. In addition, in monopolistic competition, large numbers of sellers offer closely related but not homogeneous products. This is the reason why each firm has a limited share of the market and has limited control over the market price. Thus, changes in one firmâs output have only a slight impact on market price or it also means that firms in monopolistic competition are price setters rather than price takers. In the short run, firms can make excess economic profits. However, as barriers to entry are low, other firms have an incentive to enter the market, increasing the competition, until overall economic profit is zero.

In order to yield the greatest profit, a firm engaged in monopolistic competition will focus on product quality, location, service, and advertising, since the major tool of competition is product differentiation. For example, if I opened a restaurant, the restaurant would have a menu with different dishes and different prices to other restaurants nearby and the prices of the dishes also would depend on its location, the food ingredients, the food quality, and the speed of service. With the purpose of gaining profit for the restaurant, I would try to be dynamically efficient, innovative and develop new ways to attract and retain local custom as well as maintain cost efficiency, which could keep the cost below the average profit.

I need a peer reply for this discussion and it should be 250 at least

bronzefrog162

1. A monopoly market structure is characterized by

a. large number of firms, standardized products, easy entry and exit.

b. large number of firms, differentiated products, easy entry and exit.

C. small number of firms, standardized or differentiated products, difficult entry.

d. one firm, a unique product without close substitutes, and impossible entry.

e. one firm, differentiated product, impossible entry.

2. Which of the following is not a characteristic of monopolistic competition?

a. Differentiated products

b. A downward-sloping demand curve for individual firms

c. Firms that are price makers

d. Impeded entry into the industry

e. A large number of firms

3. One factor that distinguishes oligopoly from other market structures is

a. the ease of entry into the market.

b. the interdependence of firms.

c. the slope of the demand curve.

d. the degree of product differentiation.

e. the amount of advertising expenditures.

lavenderbat941

A. A competitive firm

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

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

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

C. Along a downward-sloping monopoly demand curve,

marginal revenue is greater than price.
the elasticity of demand is constant.
marginal revenue decreases when the price decreases.
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

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

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

the marginal revenue curve.
perfectly inelastic.
always equal to marginal cost.
the same as the market demand curve

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

monopolistic
oligopolistic
monopolistically competitive
perfectly competitive

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

total revenue will fall if the price increases.
total revenue will be unchanged if the price increases.
total revenue will rise if the price increases.
the total supply will increase by an equal amount if demand increases.
the price will be unchanged if total revenue increases

H. Monopolistic competition and oligopoly are examples of

monopoly.
perfect competition.
theories of consumer behavior.
imperfect competition.
the extreme cases on the market structure continuum

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

perfect competition
monopolistic competition
oligopoly
monopoly

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

economic profits are zero.
TR > TC.
TR < TC.
P = AVC.
normal profits are zero.

brownlouse308

EC111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Monopolistic Competition, Average Variable Cost, Profit Maximization

Document Summary

Get access

Related Documents

ECON 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, Takers

ECON 10010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Tap Water, Root Mean Square, Marginal Revenue

ECO100Y5 Chapter Notes -Monopolistic Competition, Imperfect Competition, Perfect Competition

Related Questions