Consider the US automobile industry, where firms with heterogeneous productivity, subject to increasing returns to scale, produce a differenti- ated good and sell it in a monopolistically competitive market. Firms can decide whether to perform the entire production process in the US, or off- shore (through vertical FDI) part of the process, representing a share 3 of the variable cost, in Mexico, where wages are lower (WMEX < wus = 1) The latter option entails a higher fixed cost (fv> fD). Suppose that the US government increases the share of variable cost that has to be sourced in the U.S., so that 8 falls. Then: (a) only the least productive US multinationals would reduce FDI (i.e., the volume of production in Mexico) and increase their price (b) only the most productive US multinationals would reduce FDI (i.e., the volume of production in Mexico) and increase their price (c) the most productive US multinationals would increase FDI (i.e., the volume of production in Mexico) and leave their price unchanged (d) none of the above

Zar Island Gas Company is the sole producer of natural gas in the remote island country of Zar. The company's operations are regulated by the State Energy Commission. The demand function for gas in Zar has been estimated as: P = 1,000 − .2Qwhere Q is output (measured in units) and P is price (measured in dollars per unit). Zar Island's cost function is: TC = 300,000 + 10QThe firm's asset base is $4 million.In the absence of any government price regulation, determine Zar Island's optimal (i) output level, (ii) selling price, (iii) total profits, and (iv) rate of return on its asset base.

10.13

Tim's Tires sells tires under the firm's own brand name and private label tires to discount stores. The tires sold in both sub-markets are identical, and the marginal cost is constant at $15 per tire for both types. The firm has estimated the following demand curves for each of the markets: PB = 70 - 0.0005QB (brand name) PP = 20 - 0.0002QP (private label). Quantities are measured in thousands per month and price refers to the wholesale price. a) By selling the brand name and private label tires at different prices, is the firm is using first, second, or third degree price discrimination? b) With price discrimination, the firm's TOTAL profit is _______________ (assume fixed costs are zero). c) If the firm cannot price discriminate and must charge a single price in the market, the optimal price is  and the optimal quantity is  ________________. The firm's total profit in this case is approximately ________________(again, assume fixed costs are zero). d) When price discriminating, the…