The Firm & Market Structures

50 questions available

Elasticity and Demand Concepts5 min
This section introduces the sensitivity of quantity demanded to changes in price, income, and the price of related goods. It defines price elasticity, income elasticity, and cross-price elasticity. Key distinctions are made between elastic and inelastic demand, normal and inferior goods, and substitutes versus complements based on the sign and magnitude of the elasticity coefficients.

Key Points

  • Price elasticity > 1 is elastic; < 1 is inelastic.
  • Positive income elasticity indicates a normal good; negative indicates an inferior good.
  • Positive cross-price elasticity indicates substitutes; negative indicates complements.
Market Structures and Characteristics7 min
The text defines four primary market structures: Perfect Competition, Monopolistic Competition, Oligopoly, and Monopoly. It details the characteristics of each, such as the number of firms, product homogeneity or differentiation, and barriers to entry. Perfect competition is characterized by price-taking firms and horizontal demand curves, while imperfect markets involve price-making firms with downward-sloping demand curves.

Key Points

  • Perfect Competition: Many small firms, homogeneous products, free entry.
  • Imperfect Markets: Product differentiation, barriers to entry, price influence.
  • Barriers to entry include patents, high startup costs, and resource access.
Revenue and Cost Curves10 min
This section explains the behavior of Average Revenue (AR), Marginal Revenue (MR), and Total Revenue (TR) under different market conditions. It also defines various cost metrics (TFC, TVC, TC, AFC, AVC, ATC, MC) and describes the geometric shapes of their curves, including the U-shape of ATC and AVC and the relationship between MC and average costs for minimization.

Key Points

  • In Perfect Competition, P = AR = MR.
  • In Imperfect Competition, MR < P and AR.
  • ATC and AVC are U-shaped; MC intersects them at their minimums.
Profit Maximization and Production Decisions8 min
Firms maximize profit where Marginal Cost equals Marginal Revenue (MC = MR). This section covers the conditions for breaking even and shutting down production. It distinguishes between short-run shutdown points (P < AVC) and long-run shutdown points (P < ATC), illustrating these concepts with the interaction of cost and revenue curves.

Key Points

  • Profit Max Rule: Produce where MC = MR.
  • Breakeven: TR = TC or P = ATC.
  • Shutdown: P < AVC (Short Run) or P < ATC (Long Run).
Oligopoly Models and Concentration Measures8 min
Specific strategies for Oligopolies are discussed, including the Kinked Demand Curve, Cournot Model, and Nash Equilibrium/Game Theory. The section also introduces the Dominant Firm Model. Finally, it explains how to measure market structure using the N-firm concentration ratio and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), highlighting calculations and limitations.

Key Points

  • Kinked demand curve explains sticky prices.
  • Cournot model assumes constant rival output.
  • HHI sums the squares of market shares to measure concentration.

Questions

Question 1

If the price elasticity of demand coefficient is greater than 1, how is the demand characterized?

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Question 2

What does a positive income elasticity (I_e > 0) indicate about a good?

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Question 3

If the cross-price elasticity between two goods is negative, how are the goods related?

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Question 4

Which of the following is a characteristic of Perfect Competition?

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Question 5

In a perfectly competitive market, what is the relationship between Marginal Revenue (MR), Average Revenue (AR), and Price (P)?

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Question 6

How is Total Revenue (TR) calculated?

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Question 7

In an imperfect market (e.g., Monopoly), what is the relationship between Marginal Revenue (MR) and Price?

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Question 8

If a firm has a Total Fixed Cost (TFC) of USD 25, what will be the TFC if the quantity produced doubles?

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Question 9

How is Total Cost (TC) defined?

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Question 10

If Total Fixed Cost is USD 30 and output is 10 units, what is the Average Fixed Cost (AFC)?

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Question 11

Which cost curve continually declines as output increases?

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Question 12

What does the vertical distance between the Average Total Cost (ATC) and Average Variable Cost (AVC) curves represent?

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Question 13

At what point does cost minimization occur regarding the Marginal Cost (MC) curve?

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Question 14

If producing 5 units costs USD 50 and producing 6 units costs USD 55, what is the Marginal Cost for the 6th unit?

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Question 15

What condition must be met for a firm to maximize profits?

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Question 16

In the short run, when should a firm shut down?

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Question 17

What defines the breakeven point for a firm?

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Question 18

In the long run, when will a firm shut down?

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Question 19

What happens initially to Average Total Cost (ATC) as production increases?

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Question 20

Which curve represents the firm's supply curve in the short run under perfect competition?

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Question 21

What is 'Normal Profit'?

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Question 22

In the long run equilibrium for Perfect Competition, what is the relationship between Price and ATC?

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Question 23

Under Monopolistic Competition in the long run, which of the following is true regarding price and ATC?

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Question 24

What distinguishes Monopolistic Competition from Perfect Competition regarding products?

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Question 25

In an Oligopoly, what describes the barriers to entry?

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Question 26

Which market structure involves a single seller with unique products?

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Question 27

What does the 'Kinked Demand Curve' model in oligopoly suggest about price changes?

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Question 28

What is the key assumption of the Cournot model?

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Question 29

What is a Nash Equilibrium?

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Question 30

Which market concentration measure involves summing the squared market shares of the largest firms?

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Question 31

Calculate the N-firm concentration ratio for N=4 if the market shares are 30 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, and 5 percent.

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Question 32

What is a major limitation of both the N-firm concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index?

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Question 33

In the Dominant Firm Model, how is the market price determined?

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Question 34

If a product has an income elasticity of -0.5, it is classified as:

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Question 35

If selling 8 units at USD 4 results in an Average Revenue of USD 4, what is the market structure likely to be?

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Question 36

What does a concentration ratio of 100 percent for N=1 indicate?

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Question 37

In the short run for a perfectly competitive firm, if Price (P) is greater than ATC, the firm is:

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Question 38

What implies 'allocative efficiency' in Perfect Competition?

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Question 39

Calculate HHI if there are two firms with 50 percent market share each.

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Question 40

Which market structure engages heavily in advertising to maintain a competitive edge?

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Question 41

If a firm increases production from 3 units to 4 units, and Total Revenue increases from USD 24 to USD 31, what is the Marginal Revenue of the 4th unit?

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Question 42

What creates a natural monopoly?

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Question 43

In the context of the Prisoner's Dilemma (Game Theory), what outcome often occurs?

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Question 44

Which elasticity indicates that good A is a substitute for good B?

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Question 45

If a firm in Perfect Competition raises its price above the market price, what happens?

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Question 46

Average Variable Cost (AVC) is calculated by:

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Question 47

Diseconomies of scale occur when:

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Question 48

According to the Cournot strategy, in long-run equilibrium:

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Question 49

Which pricing strategy involves a firm utilizing its large market share and lower cost structure to set prices?

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Question 50

If a government wishes to measure market power but wants to capture the merger effect more accurately, which metric is preferred?

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