ECON 1116 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Price Discrimination, State Ownership, Marginal Revenue

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graywallaby313

8 Mar 2015

School

Northeastern University

Department

Economics

Course

ECON 1116

Professor

pritchard

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Document Summary

Monopoly a firm if it is the sole seller of its product and if its product doesn"t have close substitutes: there are 3 main sources of barriers to entry, monopoly resource, government regulation, the production process. B: government created monopolies: sometimes arises from political clout, also could be done in public interest, patent: gives a company the exclusive right to manufacture and sell the product for 20 years, ex. Pharmaceutical companies receive patents if the new drug is found truly original: copyright: the monopolist in the sale of a product, ex. a novelist, results: higher prices and profits, encourages good behavior. Ex. drug companies encouraged to do more research: benefits: increased incentive for creative activity, costs: monopoly pricing. Additional firms would have to pay fixed costs of building a network. 15-2: how monopolies make production and pricing decisions. C: profit maximization: maximize profit by choosing the quantity at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost.

Related Questions

1.As long as price is sufficient to cover __________, the firm isbetter off by operating rather than by shutting down in the shortrun.
Answer
marginal cost
average fixed cost
average variable cost
marginal revenue

2.The owner of Tie-Dyed T-shirts, a perfectly competitive firm, hashired you to give him some economic advise. He has told you thatthe market price for his shirts is $20 and that he is currentlyproducing 200 shirts at an AVC of $15 in the short run and an AC of$25. What would you recommend to him?
Answer
To continue producing in the short run, as his loss from productionis less than his fixed costs, but to exit the industry in the longrun if there are no changes in economic conditions.
To shut down in the short run, as he is incurring a loss and toleave the industry in the long run, if there are no changes ineconomic conditions.
To continue to produce in the short run, even though he is earninga loss, and to expand in the future with the hope of increasingmarket share and total revenue.
You tell him you cannot make any recommendations until you knowwhat his fixed costs are.

3.Which type of barrier to entry allows the electric company tomaintain a monopoly over the production of electricity?
Answer
a patent
economies of scale
diseconomies of scale
ownership of a scarce factor of production.

4. Why can a monopolist continue to make positive profits even inthe long-run while a perfectly competitive firm can make only zeroeconomic profits in the long-run?
Answer
Because a monopoly only has one firm while perfect competition hasmany.
Because monopoly has barriers to entry and perfect competition hasfree entry.
Because perfect competition has barriers to entry and monopoly hasfree entry.
Because in perfect competition everyone produces the same productand because in monopoly there are no close substitutes.

5.What is the difference between diminishing returns anddiseconomies of scale?
Answer
Diminishing returns is in the short run while diseconomies of scaleis in the long run.
Diminishing returns is in the long run while diseconomies of scaleis in the short run.
They are both the same thing.
There is no such thing as diseconomies of scale.

6. What does the LAC look like for a firm with constant returns toscale?
Answer
It slopes downwards.
It slopes upwards.
It is a horizontal straight line.
It is a vertical straight line.

7.Natural monopoly occurs when there are:
Answer
large economies of scale.
firms joining together to limit output and raise prices.
different prices for different consumers or groups ofconsumers.
patents.

8.Suppose we know that a monopolist is maximizing its profits.Which of the following must be true? The monopolist has
Answer
maximized its total revenue.
set price equal to its average cost.
maximized the difference between marginal revenue and marginalcost.
set marginal revenue equal to marginal cost.

ochresalmon590

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

1.
A monopolist faces the following demand curve:

Price Quantity Demanded

$51 1

$47 2

$42 3

$36 4

$29 5

$21 6

$12 7

The monopolist has total fixed costs of $60 and has a constantmarginal cost of $15. What is the profit-maximizing level ofproduction?

A) 5 units
B) 3 units
C) 2 units
D) 4 units
2.
A monopolist faces the following demand curve:

Price Quantity Demanded

$10 5

$9 10

$8 16

$7 23

$6 31

$5 49

$4 52

$3 60

The monopolist has total fixed costs of $40 and a constant marginalcost of $5. At the profit-maximizing level of output, themonopolistâs average total cost is

A) $6.74
B) $9.00
C) $7.50
D) $5.82
3.
A monopoly market

A) generally fails to maximize total economic well-being.
B) generally fails to maximize producer surplus.
C) always maximizes total economic well-being.
D) always minimizes consumer surplus.
4.
For a monopoly, the supply curve is a portion of its
A) none of the above; a monopoly does not have a supplycurve.
B) average total cost curve.
C) marginal revenue curve.
D) marginal cost curve.
5.
A monopoly firm can sell 200 units of output for $36.00 per unit.Alternatively, it can sell 201 units of output for $35.80 per unit.The marginal revenue of the 201st unit of output is
A) $â35.80.
B) $4.20.
C) $â4.20.
D) $35.80.
6.
If a monopolist sells 100 units at $8 per unit and realizes anaverage total cost of $6 per unit, what is the monopolist'sprofit?
A) $800
B) $400
C) $600
D) $200
7.
A monopolist is a price
A) setter, and therefore has no demand curve.
B) setter, and therefore has no supply curve.
C) taker, and therefore has no supply curve.
D) setter, and therefore has no variable cost curve.
8.
To define a monopoly, we cite the following characteristics: (i)The firm is the sole seller of its product. (ii) The firmâs productdoes not have close substitutes. (iii) The firm generates a largeeconomic profit. (iv) The firm is located in a small geographicmarket.
A) (ii) and (iv)
B) All of the above are correct.
C) (i) and (ii)
D) (i) and (iii)
9.
Consider a transportation corporation named C.R. Evans that hasjust completed the development of a new subway system in amedium-sized town in the Northwest. Currently, there are plenty ofseats on the subway, and it is never crowded. Its capacity farexceeds the needs of the city. After just a few years of operation,the shareholders of C.R. Evans experienced incredible rates ofreturn on their investment, due to the profitability of thecorporation.

Which of the following statements are most likely to be true? (i)New entrants to the market know they will earn a smaller piece ofthe market than C.R. Evans currently has. (ii) C.R. Evans is mostlikely experiencing increasing average total cost. (iii) C.R. Evansis a natural monopoly.

A) (ii) and (iii)
B) All of the above are correct.
C) (i) and (iii)
D) (i) and (ii)
10.

Quantity
Price
Total Revenue
Average Revenue
Marginal Revenue
1
$35
$35

2

64
32
29
3
$29

4

17
5
$23

11
6

120

7
$17

-1
8

-7
9

99
11
-13
10

80
8

If the monopolist sells 8 units of its product, how much totalrevenue will it receive from the sale?

You wil have to complete the entries in this table to get ananswer. It is a wothwhile exercise and I encourage you to completethe table.

HINT: (a.) Total Revenue = Price x Quantity. (So for quantity of 3x price of $29 = 87 total revenue)

(b) Average Revenue is the same as Price. (So column 2 and column 4would be the same. Calculate to see if that is correct)

(c) Marginal Revenue = Change in TR divided by change in quantity.(You calculated TR = 87 for Q=3. Thus to find MR for Q = 3, findthe change in TR= 87 - 64 and divided by one).

A) 112
B) It cannot be determined from the information provided.
C) 164
D) 40
11.
What conditions need to be present for a firm to be able to use'price discrimination?'
A) Firm should not be perfectly competitive; the market can beseparated according to different elasticities; items can beresold
B) Firm should be perfectly competitive; the market can beseparated according to different elasticities; resale of the itemsis not possible.
C) Firm should not be perfectly competitive; buyers should havesame elasticities;; resale of the items is not possible.
D) Firm should not be perfectly competitive; the market can beseparated according to different elasticities; resale of the itemsis not possible.
12.
If the government regulates the natural monopoly by asking it tocharge a price that is equal to its marginal cost (P=MC) theregulated monopoly will -------- so instead the government ends upletting it charge a price equal to its ------
A) have a profit; fixed cost
B) have a profit; average cost
C) have a loss; variable cost
D) have a loss; average cost

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ECON 1116 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Price Discrimination, State Ownership, Marginal Revenue

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