In the country of Wiknam, there is only one firm that produces and sells soccer ball. Initially, international trade is prohibited in the country. The following equations describe the monopolist's demand, marginal revenue, total cost and marginal cost: Demand: P = 10 - Q Marginal Revenue: MR = 10 - 2Q Total Cost: TC = 3 + Q + 0.5Q2 Marginal Cost: MC = 1 + Q Q stands for quantity and P is the price measured in Wiknamian dollars.
a) How many soccer balls does the monopolist produce? At what price are they sold? What is the monopolist's profit? Show all your calculations.
b) One day, the King of Wiknam decrees that henceforth, there will be free trade- either imports or exports- of soccer balls at the world price of $6. The firm now becomes a price taker in a competitive market. What happens to the domestic production of soccer balls? What happens to domestic consumption? Does Wiknam export or import soccer balls?
c) Suppose that the world price was not $6, but instead, happens to be exactly the same as the domestic price without trade as determined in part a) above. Would allowing trade change anything for the Wiknamian economy? Explain