A new competitor enters the industry and competes with a second firm, which had been a monopolist. The second firm finds that although demand is not perfectly elastic, it is now more elastic. What will happen to the second firm's marginal revenue curve and to its profit-maximizing price?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The minimum feasible long-run average price for businesses in a given perfectly competitive sector has been set at $40per unit.

Step by step solution

01

Introduction.

At the market price, the marginal revenue curve is a horizontal line, implying perfectly elastic demand, and it is equal to the demand curve. Monopolistic occurs when a single company is the single seller of a differing product in a market.

02

Given Information. 

A new challenger needs to enter the industry and wants to compete with an existing monopolist.

The second firm discovers that, while demand is not perfectly elastic, it is becoming more elastic.

03

Explanation.

It has been stated that in a perfectly competitive industry, every firm produces an output that coincides with long-run equilibrium.

In the long run, all markets are in equilibrium, and all price and quantity have fully adjusted and are still in equilibrium. The long-run differs from the short-run, which has some constraints and markets that are not fully in equilibrium.

04

Profit-maximizing price.

As is well known, in the long run, price equals marginal revenue, which equals marginal cost, which equals the minimum feasible long-run and short-run average cost.

The minimum feasible long-run average price for firms in a given perfectly competitive industry has been specified as $40per unit.

As a result, both the marginal cost and the market price would be $40per unit.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

A monopolist's maximized rate of economic profits is \(5,000per week. Its weekly output is 500units, and at this output rate, the firm's marginal cost is \)15 per unit. The price at which it sells each unit is $40 per unit. At these profit and output rates, what are the firm's average total cost and marginal revenue?

Use the following graph to answer the questions that follow,

a. What is the monopolist's profit-maximizing output?

b. At the profit-maximizing output rate, what are average total cost and total revenue ?

c. At the profit-maximizing output rate, what are the monopolist's total cost and total revenue?

d. What is the maximum profit?

e. Suppose that the marginal coot and average total cost curves in the diagram also illustrate the horizontal summation of the firms in a perfectly competitive industry in the long run. What would the equilibrium price and output be if the market were perfectly competitive? Explain the economic cost to society of allowing a monopoly to exist.

The marginal revenue curve of a monopoly crosses its marginal cost curve at \(30per unit and an output of 2million units. The price that consumers are willing to pay for this output is \)40per unit. If it produces this output, the firm's average total cost is $43per unit. What is the profit-maximizing (loss-minimizing) output? What are the firm's economic profits (or economic losses)?

A monopolist's revenues vary directly with price. Is it maximizing its economic profits? Why or why not? (Hint: Recall that the relationship between revenues and price depends on price elasticity of demand.)

Suppose that in Figure 24-4, the monopolist knows that if it were to reduce the price of its product to $5.40 per unit, the quantity demanded-and hence its output-would rise to 13 units per week. What would be the marginal revenue that the monopolist would derive from producing and selling a 13th unit?

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