Transcribed Image Text: KEY TERMS
average fixed cost (AFC), 493
average total cost (ATC), 489
average variable cost (AVC), 493
constant returns to scale, 496
diseconomies of scale, 494
economies of scale, 494
0
10
20
30
EXERCISES
1. Use the following information to determine the total fixed
costs, total variable costs, average fixed costs, average vari-
able costs, average total costs, and marginal costs.
Total
Output Costs TFC
40
50
60
0
1
2
500
3
4
5
. Constant returns to scale occur when increases in out-
put lead to no changes in unit costs and the quantities
of all resources are variable. $22-3a
• Specialization can lead to economies of scale-larger
size enables people to specialize in the jobs where they
use their comparative advantage. $22-3b
Chapter 22 Supply: The Costs of Doing Business
$100
$150
$225
$230
$300
$400
2. Use the following table to answer the questions that
follow.
Total
Output Cost TFC TVC AFC AVC ATC MC
$ 20
$ 40
$ 60
$ 90
$120
$180
$280
law of diminishing marginal
returns, 488
long-run average-total-cost curve
(LRATC), 495
marginal cost (MC), 490
minimum efficient scale (MES), 498
TVC AFC AVC ATC MC
The minimum efficient scale (MES) occurs at the min-
imum point of the long-run average-total-cost curve,
$22-3c
a. Calculate the total fixed costs, total variable costs, av-
erage fixed costs, average variable costs, average total
costs, and marginal costs.
The long run is the planning horizon, where all resour-
ces are variable. Once a size or scale is selected, the
firm is operating in the short run. $22-3d
scale, 494
short-run average total cost
(SRATC), 493
total costs (TC), 492
total fixed costs (TFC), 492
total variable costs (TVC), 492
b. Plot each of the cost curves.
c. At what quantity of output does marginal cost equal
average total cost and average variable cost?
3. Using the table in exercise 1, explain what happens to
ATC when MC> ATC, MC< ATC, and MC = ATC.
4. Using the table in exercise 2, find the quantity where
MC ATC. Find the quantity where ATC is at its
minimum. Find the quantity that is the most efficient
operating point for the firm.
5. Describe some conditions that might cause large firms
to experience inefficiencies that small firms would not
experience.
6. What is the minimum efficient scale? Why would
different industries have different minimum efficient
scales?
7. Describe the relation between marginal and average
costs. Describe the relation between marginal and
average fixed costs and between marginal and average
variable costs.
8. Explain why the ATC and MC curves are U-shaped.
9. Explain why the short-run marginal-cost curve must
intersect the short-run average-total-cost curve at the
minimum point of the ATC. Does the marginal-cost
curve intersect the average-variable-cost curve at its
minimum point? What about the average-fixed-cost
curve? Explain why the marginal-cost curve does not
also intersect the average-fixed-cost curve at its mini-
mum point.
Chapter 22 Supply: The Costs of Doing Business
10. Why does the minimum point of the average-total-cost
curve show the quantity at which the firm is most effi-
ciently supplying output in the short run?
11. Consider a firm with a fixed-size production facility as
described by its existing cost curves.
a. Explain what would happen to those cost curves if a
mandatory health insurance program were imposed
on all firms.
b. What would happen to the cost curves if the plan
required the firm to provide a health insurance pro-
gram for each employee worth 10 percent of the
employee's salary?
c. How would that plan compare to one that requires
each firm to provide a $100,000 group program that
would cover all employees in the firm, no matter
what the number of employees was?
12. Does the following statement make sense: "You made a
real blunder. The $600 you paid for repairs is worth
more than the car."
13. Explain the statement, "We had to increase our volume
to spread the overhead."
14. Three college students are considering operating a
tutoring business in economics. This business would
require that they give up their current jobs at the stu-
dent recreation center, which pay $6,000 per year.
A fully equipped facility can be leased at a cost of
$8,000 per year. Additional costs are $1,000 a year
501
for insurance and $.50 per person per hour for materi-
als and supplies. Their services would be priced at $10
per hour per person.
a. What are fixed costs?
b. What are variable costs?
c. What is the marginal cost?
d. How many student-hours would it take to break
even?
15. Express Mail offers overnight delivery to customers. It
is attempting to come to some conclusion on whether
to expand its facilities. Currently its fixed costs are $2
million per month, and its variable costs are $2 per
package. It charges $12 per package and has a monthly
volume of 2 million packages. If it expands, its fixed
costs will rise by $1 million and its variable costs will
fall to $1.50 per package. Should it expand?
16. Suppose the cost of starting Business A is very, very
high. But once begun, the marginal cost of additional
output is near zero. Draw this situation using the
marginal-cost curve.
17. It requires a large sum of money to produce a musical
CD. The band has to be formed, practiced, and so
forth. The recording studio has to be rented and the
music performed and taped. Once one CD has been
created, it costs virtually nothing to produce additiona
CDs. Draw the average and marginal costs for this
business.