EconPlusDal Micro Y2 Flashcards
What is the definition of short run?
A period of time when there is at least one fixed factor of production
What is the equation for marginal product?
The extra output gained or lost when adding one more unit of input.
Change in total product
/
Change in quantity of labour
What is the law of diminishing returns?
Law of diminishing returns states that in the short run when variable factors of production are added to a stock of fixed factors of production total/marginal product will initially rise and then fall
What is the equation for average product?
Total product
/
Quantity of labour
Why does labour productivity increase when adding a unit of labour?
Specialisation
- training from other workers
- more experience
Under utilisation of fixed FofP
Why does labour productivity start to decrease when adding to many units of labour?
Fixed FofP constrain production
- workers get in the way
- not enough materials
When is total product maximised, in relation to marginal product?
Total product maximised when marginal product = 0
What is long run vs short run?
Long run is when all factors of production are variable
Short run is when there is at least one fixed factor of production
What two types of costs are there in economics?
Explicit
Implicit
What are implicit costs?
Opportunity costs
What are explicit costs?
Fixed costs
- rent
- salaries
- interest on loans
Variable costs
- wages
- utility bills
- raw materials costs
What is the formula of total fixed costs?
total costs - total variable costs
average fixed costs x quantity
What is the formula for average fixed costs?
Total fixed costs
/
Quantity
or
Average costs - average variable costs
What shape is the average variable cost?
Smiley face ( U )
Assume wages are the only variable costs.
Law of diminishing returns causes AVC to rise.
What is the formula for average variable costs?
Total variable costs
/
Quantity
or
Average cost - Average FC
What is the formula for marginal cost?
Change in total costs
/
Change in quantity of output
What is the formula for average costs?
Total costs
/
Quantity of output
or
AFC + AVC
Marginal means what?
One more unit.
Marginal formulas will always be the same as average formulas but with changes in it.
What shape is the total variable cost curve?
~ (diagonally upwards)
The shallow part of the curve is when productive gains occur, specialisation and resources utilised.
Beginning steep curve there is under utilisation
End steep curve too much labour, not enough resources
What is scale?
When the business increases its factors of production, business is scaling up
What does the long run average cost curve look like?
U with an extended flat bottom, like a bucket
Long run is made up of many short runs
Beginning of U
- Increasing returns to scale
Bottom of U
- Constant of returns to scale
Upward U
- Decreasing returns to scale
What is increasing returns to scale?
% change output
>
% change input
Economies of scale
What is constant returns to scale?
% change output
% change input
What is decreasing returns to scale?
% change in output
<
% change in output
Diseconomies of scale
What is the minimum efficient scale?
The MES is the lowest level of output required to fully exploit economies of scale.
After this costs cannot become any less
What is economies of scale?
Economies of scale is a reduction in LRAC as output increases
What is internal economies of scale?
Really Fun Mums Try Making Pies
Risk bearing eos
Financial eos
Managerial eos
Technical eos
Marketing eos
Purchasing eos
Quantity produced is increasing much more than total costs
What is external economies of scale?
Business within an industry benefit from economies of scale due to external factors:
Better transport infrastructure
Component suppliers move closer
R&D firms move closer
What is diseconomies of scale? 3Cs and an M
Diseconomies of scale is an increase in LRAC as output increases
- Control as workforce increases, worse
- Communication as business grows, slows.
- Coordination harder as business grows
- Motivation, less valued as business grows
Total costs are increasing much faster than quantity
What is total revenue?
Price x quantity
What is average revenue?
Price
Total Revenue
/
Quantity
What is the formula for marginal revenue?
Change in total revenue
/
Change in quantity
What are the characteristics of perfect competition?
Hypothetical theory
- Many buyers and sellers
(infinite) - Homegenous goods
- Firms are price takers
- No barriers to entry/exit
- Perfect information
- MR = AR = D curve
- Positive diagonal Total Revenue curve
What are the characteristics of imperfect information?
- Few buyers and sellers
- Differentiated goods
- Firms are price makers
- High barriers to entry/exit
- Imperfect information
- AR = D, negative diagonal curve
- MR = twice as steep as AR
At imperfect competition when does total revenue peak?
When marginal revenue = 0
MR = 0
When marginal revenue becomes negative, total revenue will start fall.
When marginal revenue is positive, there is still room for revenue to be gained
What is the difference between economic profit and accounting profit?
Economic profit considers both implicit and explicit costs (physical costs & opportunity costs)
Accounting profit considers only explicit costs (physical costs)
What does each economic profit mean?
0 economic profit
- normal profits
- carry on with production
- AR = AC
> 0
- supernormal profits
- carry on with production
- AR > AC
<0
- subnormal profits
- produce the alternative
- AR < AC
What point on a graph is profit maximisation?
MC = MR
Why should firms profit maximise?
- Re-investment
- Dividends for shareholders
- Lower costs & lower prices for consumers
- Reward for entrepreneurship
Why would firms avoid profit maximisation?
- Knowledge of MC & MR
- Greater scrutiny
- Key stakeholders harmed (satisfice instead)
- Other objectives more appropriate
What is profit satisificing?
Sacrificing profit to satisfy as many key stakeholders as possible
What point on the graph does revenue maximisation occur?
MR = 0
Why would firms revenue maximise?
- Economies of scale
- Predatory pricing
- Principle agent problems
Divorce between ownership and control
What point on a graph does sales maximisation occur?
Break-even
AC = AR
Why may a firm sales maximise?
- Growth
- Economies of scale
- Limit pricing
- Divorce between ownership and control (principle agent problem)
- Flood the market
What will public sector organisations aim for on a graph?
P = MC
Demand = Supply
Allocative efficiency
Maximise society welfare
What objectives may firms have?
- Profit max
- Profit satsifice
- Revenue max
- Sales max
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Public sector organisations (P = MC, D = S, Allocative efficiency)
- Survival
What are barriers to entry?
Any obstacle that prevents a new firm entering a market
What legal barriers to entry is there?
- Patents
- Licenses/patents
- Red tape
- Standards vs regulations
- Insurance
What technical barriers to entry is there?
- Start up costs
- Sunk costs
- Economies of scale
- Natural monopoly
What nmeumonic is there to remember the types of barriers to entry?
Lloyds TSB
Legal
Technical
Strategic
Brand loyalty
What strategic barriers to entry is there?
- Predatory pricing
- Limit pricing
- Heavy advertising
What are sunk costs?
Sunk costs are costs that can’t be recovered
What barriers to exit is there?
- Under valuation of assets
- Redundancy costs
- Penalties for leaving contracts early
- Sunk costs