36. A company compiles the following information:
Total revenue |
$300,000 |
Value of buildings and machinery |
|
- At the beginning of the year |
$300,000 |
- At the end of the year |
$280,000 |
Cost of raw materials |
$100,000 |
Wages paid during the year |
$ 50,000 |
Normal profit for the year |
$ 40,000 |
The company’s economic profit is closest to:
A. $90,000. B. $110,000. C. $130,000.
Answer: A “Organizing Production,” Michael Parkin 2009 Modular Level I, Volume 2, pp. 98-99, Table 1 Study Session 4-16-a Explain the types of opportunity cost and their relation to economic profit, and calculate economic profit. Economic profit is equal to total revenue minus total costs, both explicit and implicit costs (including normal profit) Total costs = 100,000 + 50,000 + 40,000 + (300,000 – 280,000) = 210,000 Economic profit = Total revenue – Total costs = 300,000 - 210,000 = 90,000
37. In the short run, an increase in output at low levels of production will most likely cause:
A. an increase in the marginal cost due to the rising total fixed cost. B. an increase in the marginal cost due to the law of diminishing returns. C. a decrease in the marginal cost due to economies from greater specialization.
Answer: C “Output and Costs,” Michael Parkin 2009 Modular Level I, Volume 2, p. 135 Study Session 4-17-d Explain the firm’s production function, its properties of diminishing returns and diminishing marginal product of capital, the relation between short-run and long-run costs, and how economies and diseconomies of scale affect long-run costs. The marginal cost decreases at low levels of output due to economies from greater specialization. However, at higher levels of production, it eventually increases because of the law of diminishing returns.
38. In regulating a natural monopoly, the most commonly adopted compromise pricing rule by a regulator is the:
A. total cost pricing rule. B. average cost pricing rule. C. marginal cost pricing rule.
Answer: B “Monopoly,” Michael Parkin 2009 Modular Level I, Volume 2, pp. 200-202 Study Session 5-19-e Explain the potential gains from monopoly and the regulation of a natural monopoly. The average cost pricing rule allows the natural monopoly to cover its costs and to break even (make zero economic profit). |