Economics: Principles, Problems, & Policies (McGraw-Hill Series in Economics) - Standalone book
20th Edition
ISBN: 9780078021756
Author: McConnell, Campbell R.; Brue, Stanley L.; Flynn Dr., Sean Masaki
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
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Chapter 12, Problem 4DQ
To determine
The pure monopolist and a purely competitive firm have the same unit costs.
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Assume that a pure monopolist and a purely competitive firm have the same unit costs. Contrast the two with respect to (a) price, (b) output, (c) profits, (d) allocation of resources, and (e) impact on the distribution of income. Since both monopolists and competitive firms follow the MR = MC rule in maximizing profits, how do you account for the different results? Why might the costs of a purely competitive firm and those of a monopolist be different? What are the implications of such a cost difference?
Assume that a pure monopolist and a purely competitive firm have the same unit costs. Contrast the two with respect to (a) price, (b) output, (c) profits, (d) allocation of resources, and (e) impact on income transfers. Since both monopolists and competitive firms follow the MC = MR rule in maximizing profits, how do you account for the different results? Why might the costs of a purely competitive firm and those of a monopolist be different? What are the implications of such a cost difference?
Refer to Diagram 2 above, which represents a monopolist firm, to answer the following questions.
product = marginal product x selling price per unit).
What quantity will this firm produce and what price will it charge?
Suppose this monopolist firm becomes regulated and the regulatory agency wants to achieve economic efficiency. What price would the agency require the monopoly to charge and what quantity will the firm produce as a result?
If the monopolist charges a price that will achieve economic efficiency, will the monopolist be making a profit or loss? Explain your answer with a calculation.
Now suppose the government regulates the monopoly by imposing a price ceiling of $60. How many units will be produced? Will every customer who is willing to pay the ceiling price of $60 be able to buy the product? Explain why or why not.
Based on the price ceiling of $60, what will be the profit of this monopolist?
Chapter 12 Solutions
Economics: Principles, Problems, & Policies (McGraw-Hill Series in Economics) - Standalone book
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- Albert and Johny are the only sellers of Motorbikes in Ireland. The inverse market demand function for motorbikes is P(Y)= 200- 2Y . Both firms have the same total cost function: T(C)= 12Y and the same marginal cost: M(C)=12. Suppose now that the two firms decide to act like a single monopolist. What will the total quantity of Motorbikes sold in the market be and what will the equilibrium price be? Represent the profit maximisation problem on a graph and indicate the price and quantity at the equilibrium. Calculate the total profit made by the two firms when they act like a monopoly. Compare it with the total profit they were making in the Stackelberg oligopoly. For the two firms to be willing to agree to act as a monopoly, how should they split the quantity to produce between them? We assume that if they do not agree to act like a monopoly, then the market structure is the Stackelberg oligopoly studied above. We further assume that no money transfer is possible between the two…arrow_forwardMonopolists, unlike competitive firms, have some market power. A monopolist can increase price, within limits, without the quantity demanded falling to zero. The main way it retains its market power is through barriers to entry-that is, other companies cannot enter the market to create competition in that particular industry. Complete the following table by indicating which barrier to entry appropriately explains why a monopoly exists in each scenario. Barriers to Entry Economies of Scale Scenario In the natural gas industry, low average total costs are obtained only through large-scale production. In other words, the initial cost of setting up all the necessary pipes and hoses makes it risky and, most likely, unprofitable for competitors to enter the market. The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) formerly controlled all U.S. sources of bauxite, a key component in the production of aluminum. Given that Alcoa did not sell bauxite to any other companies, Alcoa was a monopolist in the…arrow_forwardThe accompanying graph depicts the marginal revenue (MR), demand (D), and marginal cost (MC) curves for a monopoly. Suppose the monopolist able to successfully price discriminate between two groups by charging one group $60 and charging $35 to the other group. c. What are the firm's profits if it charges the two prices as mentioned above?arrow_forward
- As above, the market for eggplants is known to be monopolistic. The demand curve for eggplants is given as P-1,300-40, where P denotes price and Q quantity demanded. The monopolist's cost function is given as C=10,000+1000. Compared to a firm that charged marginal-cost-prices, what is the monopolist's deadweight loss? Please don't enter decimals or commas!arrow_forwardSuppose a pure monopolist is faced with the demand schedule that follows and the same cost data as the competitive producer discussed in question 3 at the end of Chapter 7 . Calculate the missing total-revenue and marginal-revenue amounts, and determine the profit-maximizing price and profit-earning output for this monopolist. What is the monopolist’s profit? Verify your answer graphically and by comparing total revenue and total cost.arrow_forward10. Competitive Supermarkets A small town is served by many competing supermarkets, which all have the same constant marginal cost. Use the black point (plus symbol) to show the competitive price and quantity in this market. Then use the green area (triangle symbol) to shade the area representing consumer surplus in the market for groceries, and use the purple area (diamond symbol) to shade the area representing producer surplus. Competitive Market Demand Competitive Outcome Consumer Surplus Marginal Cost Producer Surplus Quantity of Groceries Price, Cost, Rev enuearrow_forward
- pic 1 : Many schemes for price discriminating involve some cost. For example, discount coupons take up the time and resources of both the buyer and the seller. This question considers the implications of costly price discrimination. To keep things simple, suppose that our monopolist's production costs are simply proportional to output, so that average total cost and marginal cost are constant and equal to each other. On the following graph, use the grey point (star symbol) to indicate the price and quantity that would emerge under a monopoly without price discrimination. Then use the purple point (diamond symbol) to shade the area corresponding to the monopolist's profit, and use the green point (triangle symbol) to shade the area corresponding to consumer surplus. Finally, use the black point (plus symbol) to shade the area corresponding to deadweight loss. Let the region representing monopolist's profit be called XX, consumer surplus YY, and deadweight loss ZZ. Suppose the…arrow_forwardThe following graph shows the demand (D) for cable services in the imaginary town of Utilityburg. The graph also shows the marginal revenue (MR) curve, the marginal cost (MC) curve, and the average total cost (ATC) curve for the local cable company, a natural monopolist. On the following graph, use the black point (plus symbol) to indicate the profit-maximizing price and quantity for this natural monopolist. Which of the following statements are true about this natural monopoly? Check all that apply. It is more efficient on the cost side for one producer to exist in this market rather than a large number of producers. The cable company is experiencing economies of scale. The cable company must own a scarce resource. The cable company is experiencing diseconomies of scale. True or False: Without government regulation, natural monopolies never earn zero profit in the long run. True Falsearrow_forwardImagine any market divided by 2 Cournot oligopolists who have identical costs Marginal cost = Average cost = 200. About this market, ask yourself: a) If the demand curve for this market is given by Q = 1250 - 2.5P, where Q is the total quantity demanded in the market and P is the selling price, both given in units, what is the reaction curve of the oligopolists? b) What will be the quantity produced and the selling price of the oligopolists? c) A strategist considers that a good marketing campaign would be able to expand the Demand of this market to Q = 1,500 - 2.5P and that in this way, oligopolists could produce the same amount and make significantly greater profits. Such a campaign would generate a reduction in profits in the order of 70,000. Is it worth making this investment in marketing?arrow_forward
- Consider the case of two natural monopolists for two different products, with identical long-run average costs and identical horizontal long run-marginal costs. The first monopolist faces a relatively inelastic demand, and the second monopolist faces a relatively elastic demand. Both demands, however, share the same vertical intercept. Explain the following, showing the justification to your explanation with properly labeled graphs (use a separate graph for each of a and b below):a. Which monopolist is the less likely target for government regulation? Why?b. If the government considers making both products a “public good” produced by the monopolists. Which product will place a heavier burden on the government’s budget?arrow_forwardSuppose that the perfectly competitive soybean industry in the United States is monopolized. Under perfect competition, the equilibrium price was $2 and quantity was 100,000. The monopolist raises price to $5 and restricts quantity to 70,000. Assume that the monopolist is maximizing profits and that the monopolist faces a linear, upward- sloping marginal cost curve that begins at the origin. Also assume that this marginal cost curve is the industry supply curve under perfect competition. What is the loss in consumer surplus that the monopolist captures in the form of profit? $500,000 $350,000 $300,000 $210,000< a) b)arrow_forwardUse the following demand schedule for a pure monopolist to calculate total revenue and marginal revenue at each quantity. Plot the monopolist’s demand curve and marginal-revenue curve, and explain the relationships between them. Explain why the marginal revenue of the fourth unit of output is $3.50, even though its price is $5. What generalization can you make as to the relationship between the monopolist’s demand and its marginal revenue? Suppose the marginal cost of successive units of output was zero. What output would the single-price monopolist produce, and what price would it charge?arrow_forward
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