1.5 PRODUCTION AND COSTS Flashcards
PRIMARY AIM OF FIRMS
profit maximisation
TC
FC + VC
ATC x2
TC / Q
AFC + AVC
AFC
FC/Q
AVC
VC/Q
MC x2
change in TC/
change in Q
the slop of TC
SHORT RUN PRODUCTION
period of time during which
the number of firms in an industry
and the amount of land and capital
employed by existing firms are fixed in quantity
only variable costs like labour can vary
LONG RUN PRODUCTION
period of time during which
amount of land and capital
used in production by existing firms are variable
> D= increase capital from firms and new firms enter
LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURN
shows as more and more of a variable resource- labour
is added to a fixed resource-capital
beyond a certain point the productivity of additional units of the variable resources declines
because the amount of capital is fixed
more workers find it harder to continually add to the firm’s output
LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS EXPLAINS…
the shape of a firms SR productivity cruves
LAW OF DIMINISHING AND MARGINAL PRODUCT
as successive units of the variable factor are added
the marginal output will at first increase then decrease
MC
the cost of producing one extra unit of output
EXPLICIT COSTS
monetary payments (wages) to factors of production not already owned by a firm
IMPLICIT COSTS
“normal profit”
opportunity cost faced by a business owner
who chooses to use his skills and resources
to operate his own enterprise
rather than seeking employment by someone else
COST IN THE LONG RUN OVERVIEW
in the long run all FoPs are variable
a firm can change its size/scale
3 things can happen:
increasing returns
constant returns
decreasing returns
INCREASING RETURNS
an increase in inputs leads to a larger proportional increase in output
CONSTANT RETURNS
when an increase in inputs leads to a proportionally identical increase in output
DECREASING RETURNS
when an increase in inputs leads to a proportionally smaller increase in the quantity of output
“too big for its own good”
ECONOMIC COSTS
opportunity costs of all resources employed by the firm
ECONOMIES OF SCALE CATEGORIES x6
risk bearing
financial
marketing
technical
managerial
purchasing