In Brazil, coffee beans are cultivated by a very large number of small farms that all produce beans of similar quality and taste at similar costs. Land is still plentiful, and the equipment required is affordable enough to allow new farming businesses to start up under current market conditions. However, better production techniques, especially alternatives to polluting fertilisers and deforestation, are needed in this industry. Using the theory and models of industry structure, examine this industry. Should government be worried about any aspect of how an industry with this market structure will perform?

Assume that the most efficient production technology available for making vitamin pills has the cost structure given in the following table. Note that output is measured as the number of bottles of vitamins produced per day and that costs include a normal profit. Output TC MC ATC 50,800 $170,000 $0.60 100,800 220,000 1.10 150,800 257,500 1.71 200,800 365,500 2.45 Instructions: Enter your answers rounded to two decimal places. a. What is ATC per unit for each level of output listed in the table? Enter your answers in the table above. b. Are there economies of scale in production? Yes c. Suppose that the market price for a bottle of vitamins is $1.71. At that price the total market quantity demanded is 301,600,000 bottles. How many firms will be in this industry? firm(s) d. Suppose that, instead, the market quantity demanded at a price of $1.71 is only 150,800. How many firms will be in this industry? firm(s) e. Review your answers to parts b, c, and d. Does the level of demand determine…

Distinguish among three types of imperfectly competitive industries and describe how imperfect competition differs from perfect competition.

Profit is the incentive that drives our market economy. Firms make production, pricing, andhiring decisions based on their quest for profit. But what happens when a firm discoversthat it can make dramatically higher profits by stopping production altogether? In December2000, due to wild swings in the market for electricity, Kaiser Aluminium faced just such adecision.Kaiser Aluminium had contracted with Bonneville power for all of its electricity needs andfound itself in the unique position of being an electricity consumer and, potentially, anelectricity reseller. By December 2000, Kaiser faced a difficult decision of continuing itscurrent aluminium production and profit levels, or closing the plant to dramatically increaseits profit by simply reselling its electricity.When making production decisions, firms must consider both their costs and revenues. Oneimportant concern for many firms is utility costs. In 1996, Kaiser Aluminium Corporation inSpokane, Washington, entered into a…

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usiness EconomicsQ&A LibraryTwo firms A and B produce an identical product (Note: Industry Output = Q). The firms have to decide how much output qA and qB  (Note: qA = Firm A Output; qB =  Firm B Output) they must produce since they are the only two firms in the industry that manufacture this product. Their marginal cost (MC) is equal to their average cost (AC) and it is constant at MC = AC = X, for both firms.  Market demand is given as Q = Y – 2P (where P = price and Q = quantity).  Select any value for X between [21 – 69] and any value for Y between [501 – 999].  Using this information, calculate the Industry Price, Industry Output, Industry Profit, Consumer Surplus and Deadweight Loss under each of the following models:       (a) Cournot Model Two firms A and B produce an identical product (Note: Industry Output = Q). The firms have to decide how much output qA and qB  (Note: qA = Firm A Output; qB =  Firm B Output) they must produce since they are the only two firms in…

The table shown displays the total costs for various levels of output for a firm operating in a perfectly competitive market. Price $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $56 When one unit is produced exceed O marginal costs, marginal revenue, more O marginal revenue; marginal costs more O marginal revenue, marginal costs; less Omarginal costs, marginal revenue, less and the fem should produce Quantity 0 1 2 3 4 15 TC $10.00 $20.00 $2750 $77 50 $147.50 $250 00