ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Fixed Cost, Average Variable Cost

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magentamuskrat366

3 Dec 2020

School

Irvine Valley College

Department

Economics

Course

ECON 20

Professor

Mcneil

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Document Summary

Accounting profit is total revenue minus out-of-pocket explicit costs. Economic profit is different because the economic cost curves include. We are always talking about economic profit, not accounting profit. Even if economic profit is zero, you are content. There is nothing better you could be doing because you are covering all your explicit, out-of-pocket costs and your opportunity costs. You are paying yourself (and receiving) the best salary you could have earned elsewhere in the economy. You are paying yourself (and receiving) the best rate of return on money invested in your business that you could have earned elsewhere in the economy. You have no reason or incentive to change anything. If economic profit exists, it will induce entry into the industry because these economic profits provide a change to get more than just all your opportunity costs. As new firms enter the industry the market supply increases, and the market supply curve shifts outward.

Related Questions

Question 3

We saw in class that the same good can fall in different categories (public/private/club/common resource) depending on circumstances. An example of such a good would be watching a movie at the theater. If a lot of people want to watch it, the movie is a _________. If very few people want to watch it (to the point where a room could not even be filled), the movie is likely to be a _______.

A. a common resource; a public good

B. a public good; a common resource

C. a private good; a club good

D. a club good; a private good

3 points

Question 4

Which of the following statements about the free-rider problem is not true?

A. Individuals have an incentive to free-ride when the good is not excludable.

B. The kinds of goods for which the free rider problem arises are common resources and public good.

C. Markets for goods for which there is a free-rider problem are inefficient because not enough of the good is produced.

D. Goods for which the free-rider problem exists tend to be over provided relative to what would be optimal.

4 points

Question 5

To achieve the efficient provision of public goods, the

A. market should be allowed to operate without government intervention.

B. government must limit the provision of those goods.

C. government must tax producers of those goods.

D. government must either provide those goods or subsidize their production.

3 points

Question 6

Which of the following statements about public goods is not true?

A. Because people cannot be excluded from their consumption and thus have no incentive to pay for them, public goods are underprovided by the market.

B. Efficiency requires that the government provide or fund (subsidize) the provision of all public goods.

C. Efficiency requires that the government provide or fund only the public goods that create more benefits than costs to society.

D. In reality, it is hard to provide public goods efficiently.

3 points

Question 7

Public goods must be provided by the government as the market on its own will fail to provide them. However, even with government provision it is very hard to achieve efficiency. Why?

A. In reality, it is very hard (if not impossible) to accurately estimate the benefits of providing a public good.

B. A. In reality, there can be overruns in the cost of providing the public good.

C. Government decisions about which public goods to provide can be influenced by lobbying by interest groups.

D. All of the above are true.

4 points

Question 8

Which of the following is not a common resource?

A. congested roads

B. clean water

C. wild life, which hunters want to hunt and others want to view.

D. a fireworks display.

3 points

Question 9

Many species of animals must be protected by law to keep them from extinction. Why are cows not one of these endangered species even though there is such a high demand for beef?

A. Cows reproduce at a high rate and have adapted well to their environment.

B. Public policies protect cows from predators and diseases.

C. Cows are privately owned (private goods), whereas many endangered species are owned by no one (common resources).

D.There is a natural ecological balance between the birth rate of cows and human consumption.

3 points

Question 10

Which of the following statements about common resources is not true?

A. Due to the free-rider problem, common resources tend to be overused.

B. Because there is rivalry in the consumption of common resources, whenever one person uses a common resource it is imposing a negative externality on others who might also want to use it.

C. There are no private solutions to the management of common resources.

D. One of the solutions that ensures that common resources are properly managed is their privatization.

3 points

Question 11

In our analysis of the firmâs behavior and goals, when we talk about cost, we include _________, and when we talk about profit, we mean ________.

A. Explicit costs only; economic profit

B. Implicit costs only; economic profit

C. Implicit costs only; accounting profit

D. Explicit + implicit costs; economic profit

E. Explicit + implicit costs; accounting profit

3 points

Question 12

One of the differences between explicit and implicit costs is that

A. explicit costs must be greater than implicit costs.

B. explicit costs do not require a direct monetary outlay, whereas implicit costs do.

C. implicit costs do not require a direct monetary outlay, whereas explicit costs do.

D. implicit costs must be greater than explicit costs.

3 points

Question 13

Which of the following is FALSE:

A. If accounting profit is zero, then economic profit is negative

B. Economic profit takes cost the opportunity cost of time and capital into account

C. Economic Profit = Accounting Profit + Implicit Cost

D. Economic Profit = Accounting Profit â Implicit Cost

3 points

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of an implicit cost?

(i) the owner of a firm forgoing an opportunity to earn a large salary working in Wall Street

(ii) interest paid on the firm's debt

(iii) rent paid by the firm to lease office space

A. (ii) and (iii) only

B. (i) and (iii) only

C. (i) only

D. (iii) only

3 points

sapphirekangaroo316

1/ All the problems studied in economics arise from

a. the unequal distribution of income

b. the scarcity of resources

c. inappropriate government action

d. overpopulation

e. war

2/ The overall performance of the economic system as a whole is the focus of

a. macroeconomics

b. public economics

c. international finance

d. labor economics

e. microeconomics

3/ After graduating from high school, Steve had the following three choices for his immediate future, listed in order of preference: (1) attend our campus, (2) work in a printed circuit board factory, or (3) attend a rival college. His opportunity cost of going to college here includes which of the following?

a. The income he could have earned at the printed circuit board factory plus the direct cost of attending college here (tuition, textbooks, etc.)

b. The benefits he could have received from going to the rival college.

c. Only the tuition and fees paid for taking classes here.

d. Cannot be determined from the information given.

e. The cost of books and supplies at the rival college.

4/ The question of scarce resources and unlimited wants are addressed in

a. psychology

b. history

c. anthropology

d. political science

e. economics

5/ Consider an economic model designed to analyze the purchasing decisions of households. An assumption that a household chooses between only two goods would be an example of an

a. positive assumption

b. simplifying assumption

c. macroeconomic assumption

d. financial assumption

e. critical assumption

6/ Which of the following explains why economists may disagree over normative issues?

a. They have different beliefs and values.

b. They often employ different statistical techniques when examining data.

c. Some work only on microeconomic issues, while others focus exclusively on macroeconomic issues.

d. They examine the same data to draw their conclusions.

e. They need to disagree to publish their research findings.

7/ Suppose your friends take you out for dinner on your birthday, and you have a much better time than you would have had to do anything else. There is still an opportunity cost, even though they will not let you pay for anything. True/False

8/ Microeconomics

a. addresses scarcity from a global perspective

b. is purely theoretical and has little value in explaining real-world phenomena

c. focuses on what is happening in the economy as a whole

d. examines how individuals, households, and firms make economic decisions

e. answers the fundamental economic questions of how, when, where, and why.

9/ People and organizations have to make choices about how to allocate time and money because

a. religious values conflict with economics

b. time and money are both scarce

c. government require it

d. there are unlimited resources

e. corporations control our lives

10/ The objective of an economic model is to

a. yield a better understanding of important relationships

b. use simplifying assumptions to make positive economic statements

c. be an accurate description of reality

d. predict real-world occurrences with complete accuracy

e. use basic principles of economics to derive fundamental assumptions about human behavior.

jaderaven304

Salvatore Chapter 1:

Discussion Questions: 9. How is the concept of a normal return on investment related to the distinction between business and economic profit?

Problems:

5. Determine which of the two investment projects a manager should choose if the discount rate of the firm is 10%. The first project promises a profit of $100,000 in each of the next 4 years, while the second project promises a profit of $75,000 in each of the next 6 years.

6. Determine which of the two investment projects of Problem 5 the manager should choose if the discount rate of the firm is 20%.

15. Integration Problem Samantha Roberts has a job as a pharmacist earning $30,000 per year, and she is deciding whether to take another job as the manager of another pharmacy for $40,000 per year or to purchase a pharmacy that generates a revenue of $200,000per year. To purchase the pharmacy, Samantha would have to use her $20,000 savings and borrow another $80,000 at an interest rate of 10% per year. The pharmacy that Samantha is contemplating purchasing has additional expenses of $80,000 for supplies, $40,000 for hired help, $10,000 for rent, and $5,000 for utilities. Assume that income and business taxes are zero and that the repayment of the principle of the loan does not start before 3 years. (a) What would be the business and economic profit if Samantha purchased the pharmacy? Should Samantha purchase the pharmacy? (b) Suppose that Samantha expects that another pharmacy will open nearby at the end of 3 years and that this will drive the economic profit of the pharmacy to zero. What would the revenue of the pharmacy be in 3 years? (c) What theory of profit would account for profits being earned by the pharmacy during the first 3 years of operation? (d) Suppose that Samantha expects to sell the pharmacy at the end of 3 years for $50,000 more than the price she paid for it and that she requires a 15% return on her investment. Should she still purchase the pharmacy?

Spreadsheet Problem (see attached Excel doc)

Using the data below, (Excel doc) where column A represents student numbers, column B the finishing time for a 1 mile race for 10 students, and column C the age of the students, (a) Use the data analysis tools to plot a line graph of all the finishing times. (b) Calculate a mean, median, mode, sample variance, sample standard deviation, and coefficient of variation to statistically describe the data. (c) Use Excel to fine the covariance between the two variables. What does the covariance indicate about the relationship between finishing time and age?

Note:

P15(d): Change ââ¦ for $50,000 more than â¦â to ââ¦ for $50,000 less than â¦â Compare the present value of economic profit in each of the next three years and the loss of $50,000 in the third year using 15% as the discount rate.

The spreadsheet problem (b): Calculate a mean, â¦. to statistically describe the data of both variables, Time and Age.

Individual problems:

3-1 You won a free ticket to see a Bruce Springsteen concert (assume the ticket has no resale value). U2 has a concert the same knight, and this represents your next-best alternative activity. Tickets to the U2 concert cost $80, and on any particular day, you would be willing to pay up to $100 to see this band. Assume that there are no additional costs of seeing either show. Based on the information presented, what is the opportunity cost of seeing Bruce Springsteen?

3-3 Because of the housing bubble, many houses are now selling for much less than their selling price just 2 to 3 years ago. There is evidence that homeowners with virtually identical houses tend to ask for more is they paid more for the house. What fallacy are they making?

Salvatore Chapter 3:

Discussion Questions:

9. How would you react to a sales managerâs announcement that he or she has in place a marketing program to maximize sales?

Problems:

1(a). Given the following total-revenue function: TR= 9Q - Q^2

Derive the total-, average-, and marginal- revenue schedules from Q=0 to Q=6 by 1âs.

7. Given the total-cost schedule: Q 0 1 2 3 4

TC 1 12 14 15 20

Derive the average- and marginal-cost schedules.

9. With the total-revenue curve of Problem 1 and the total-cost curve of problem 7, derive the total-profit function and show how the firm determines the profit-maximizing level of output.

Note:

DQ9: Does maximum sales (revenue) equal maximum profit (see figure 3-4)?

Revised P1(a): Derive the total-revenue, average-revenue, and marginal-revenue schedules from Q = 0 to Q = 4 by 1s.

Average revenue (AR) = total revenue (TR)/Q

Marginal revenue (MR) = change in total revenue/change in Q

For example:

Q	TR	AR	MR
2	14	7 (=14/2)
3	18	6 (=18/3)	4 (=(18-14)/(3-2)

Revised P9: With the total-revenue schedule of Problem 1 and the total-cost schedule of Problem 7, show the profit-maximizing level of output (profit=TR-TC).

Froeb et al. Chapter 4:

Individual problems:

4-5 Your insurance firm processes claims through its newer, larger high-tech facility and its older, smaller low-tech facility. Each month, the high-tech facility handles 10,000 claims, incurs $100,000 in fixed costs and $100,000 in variable costs. Each month, the low-tech facility handles 2,000 claims, incurs $16,000 in fixed costs and $24,000 in variable costs. If you anticipate a decrease in the number of claims, where will you lay off workers?

4-6 A copier company wants to expand production. It currently has 20 workers who share eight copiers. Two months ago, the firm added two new copiers, and output increased by 100,000 pages per day. One month ago, they added five workers, and productivity also increased by 50,000 pages per day. Copiers cost about twice as much as workers. Would you recommend they hire another employee or buy another copier?

ECON 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Fixed Cost, Average Variable Cost

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