ECON 120W Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Profit Maximization, Marginal Revenue, Competitive Equilibrium

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mauvebeetle363

25 Sep 2020

School

University of Waterloo

Department

Economics

Course

ECON 120W

Professor

Ziss

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Document Summary

Revenue and elasticity total revenue (tr) = p q: average revenue = tr/q = p, marginal revenue (mr) = tr/ q consists of. Mr = mc at q = q* if q is continuous mr mc at q = q* if q is discrete mr < mc for q > q* P avc in sr and p lrac in lr: a firm can increase profits by increasing output if mr > mc lowering output if mr < Firms act as price takers (implies mr = p) Result : firm supply curve is equal to the portion of the mc curve that is above min avc.

Related Questions

PROFIT MAXIMIZATION

Reminders:

Q: Quantity, TC: Total Costs, VC: Variable Costs, MC: Marginal Costs, MR: Marginal Revenue, TR: Total Revenue

1. Suppose the market for DVD movies is perfectly competitive. The industry price for the movies is $24, and a typical firm has the following total cost data:

Q	TC	VC	MC	MR	TR	Net Profit
0	10
1	33
2	53
3	70
4	90
5	114
6	143

a. Calculate the TR, MR, and MC for each level of output.

b. What condition must be met for the firm to maximize profits? What is the profit maximizing level of output and price for this firm? How much profit would be made?

2. Now suppose that some firms have been able to differentiate their DVDs, and the market has become monopolistically competitive. A typical firm now has the following demand schedule and total cost data:

Q	P	TC	VC	MC	MR	TR	Net Profit
0	40	8
1	35	20
2	30	28
3	25	40
4	20	56
5	15	76
6	10	100

a. Calculate the TR, MR, and MC for each level of output.

b. What condition must be met for the firm to maximize profits? What is the profit maximizing level of output and price for this firm? How much profit would be made?

1. A monopolist can increase profits by decreasing production if its currently producing at a point where:

Select one:

P = MC

P > MC

P < MR

MR = MC

2. The reason a monopoly creates a deadweight loss is that a monopolist charges a price that is _________ marginal cost.

Select one:

the same as

greater than

less than

None of the other choices is correct

3. A monopolist maximizes profits when it produces an output at the point where:

Select one:

None of the other choices is correct

P > MC

P = MC

MR > MC

P < MR

4. A monopolist knows an increase in price will have no impact on total revenue when its price elasticity of demand is:

Select one:

price inelastic

perfectly elastic

price elastic

equal to 1 (in absolute terms)

coppertoad717

A small firm faces an inverse demand function of P = 100 - Q. Its total cost function is given by TC = .5Q2. (You should see right away that marginal revenue is thus MR = 100 - 2Q, and it also happens that marginal cost is just MC = Q. Both MR and MC are the first derivatives of total revenue and total cost. And a quick comment on MC: unlike some marginal cost functions we've seen, this one is not constant, because marginal cost is getting $1 higher with each additional unit of output.)

The Chief Executive Officer will manage the firm, choosing output and price. Currently, the CEO is negotiating an incentive-based contract with the shareholders of the company.
(Hint: basing compensation on revenue will motivate revenue maximization rather than profit maximization!)

Hint: since the plan creates incentives for the CEO to maximize revenue rather than profit, you should not set MR = MC at this point. BIG hint: revenue is maximized when selling an additional unit won't increase your revenue, or in math terms, when MR = 0.)

Owners' proposal: CEO keeps 10% of TR.

Firm price:
Firm output:
Total revenue:
Firm profit:
CEO compensation:
Remaining profit for owners:

redfrog477

ECON 120W Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Profit Maximization, Marginal Revenue, Competitive Equilibrium

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