9. Regulating a natural monopoly Consider the only electric company in a small town, which you can assume operates as a natural monopoly. The following graph shows the demand curve for electricity services per month, as well as the provider's marginal revenue (MR) curve, marginal cost (MC) curve, and average total cost (ATC) curve. PRICE (Dollars persibscript) 88 B R 24 9. C 2 MR QUANTITY (Thousands of subscriptions) ATC -MC D Suppose the government has elected not to impose regulations on the industry, and so the firm faces no regulatory constraints in maximizing profits.

ENGR.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
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Chapter1: Making Economics Decisions
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Suppose now that the government decides to require the monopolist to set its price equal to marginal cost.
Complete the second row of the previous table.
Suppose now that the government decides to require the monopolist to set its price equal to average total cost.
Complete the third row of the previous table.
Under average-cost pricing, the government will raise the price of output whenever a firm's costs increase, and lower the price whenever a
firm's costs decrease. Over time, under the average-cost pricing policy, what will the local electric company most likely do?
O Allow its costs to increase
O Work to decrease its costs
Transcribed Image Text:Suppose now that the government decides to require the monopolist to set its price equal to marginal cost. Complete the second row of the previous table. Suppose now that the government decides to require the monopolist to set its price equal to average total cost. Complete the third row of the previous table. Under average-cost pricing, the government will raise the price of output whenever a firm's costs increase, and lower the price whenever a firm's costs decrease. Over time, under the average-cost pricing policy, what will the local electric company most likely do? O Allow its costs to increase O Work to decrease its costs
9. Regulating a natural monopoly
Consider the only electric company in a small town, which you can assume operates as a natural monopoly. The following graph shows the
demand curve for electricity services per month, as well as the provider's marginal revenue (MR) curve, marginal cost (MC) curve, and
average total cost (ATC) curve.
PRICE (Dollars per subscription)
8
288 VR
10
QUANTITY (Thousands of subscriptions)
MR
Complete the first row of the following table.
Pricing Mechanism
Profit Maximization
Suppose the government has elected not to impose regulations on the industry, and so the firm faces no regulatory constraints in
maximizing profits.
Marginal-Cost Pricing
Average-Cost Pricing
ATC
MO
D
Short Run
Quantity
Price
(Subscriptions) (Dollars per subscription)
Profit
Long-Run Decision
Transcribed Image Text:9. Regulating a natural monopoly Consider the only electric company in a small town, which you can assume operates as a natural monopoly. The following graph shows the demand curve for electricity services per month, as well as the provider's marginal revenue (MR) curve, marginal cost (MC) curve, and average total cost (ATC) curve. PRICE (Dollars per subscription) 8 288 VR 10 QUANTITY (Thousands of subscriptions) MR Complete the first row of the following table. Pricing Mechanism Profit Maximization Suppose the government has elected not to impose regulations on the industry, and so the firm faces no regulatory constraints in maximizing profits. Marginal-Cost Pricing Average-Cost Pricing ATC MO D Short Run Quantity Price (Subscriptions) (Dollars per subscription) Profit Long-Run Decision
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