Lesson 2.3 Flashcards
draw producer surplus, consumer surplus and deadweight loss for a monopoly
Equilibrium price is through MR = MC to hit demand curve; CS is below demand and above Price and over to equilibrium quantity; PS is above MC and below price and over to equilibrium quantity; deadweight loss is triangle to left of MC = demand to equilibrium demand
examples of price discrimination
colleges awarding financial aid
what customers value the good higher than the equilibrium price in a monopoly (i.e. reservation price is higher)
segment of demand curve from top to equilibrium price
explain customers on demand curve from equilibrium price to where MC = demand
unwilling to spend equilibrium price for good but reservation price exceeds MC and so they represent profitable sales, but these sales are not made by the monopolist because their equilibrium output stops before
where does profitable output continue until in monopoly?
where Q goes through MC = demand
what happens if monopolist raises equilibrium price?
producer surplus increases
what happens if monopolist lowers equilibrium price?
consumer surplus increases
can a monopolist actually change equilibrium price and why and what is the result of that?
no, it is profit maximizing price. to capture consumer surplus and increase producer surplus they need to do it with more than 1 pricing strategy
when should a manager use multiple pricing strategies?
if benefit of capturing profit exceeds costs of doing so
define: pricing discrimination
When the same (or similar) product is sold at more than one price
when is differences in similar products considered pricing discrimination?
when the differences do not reflect cost differences; when products are sold at prices that are in different ratios to their MC
3 types of pricing discrimination
1st, 2nd, 3rd degree
what is first degree price discrimination also called?
perfect price discrimination
examples of first degree price discrimination
haggling, car dealerships
where is output for a monopolist in first degree
where reservation price / market demand (which becomes MR) = MC
what is market demand?
consumer reservation price
what happens when managers can perfectly discriminate to serve customers from top of demand curve to price equilibrium
producer surplus becomes producer surplus + consumer surplus
what is producer surplus also called?
variable cost profit
what happens when managers can perfectly discriminate to serve customers from price equilibrium to demand curve where demand = MC
increase producer surplus to include the deadweight loss
when are managers price discriminating of 1st degree?
when they capture all consumer surplus and deadweight loss
under 1st degree, what price do managers charge customers?
reservation price
what must managers do to do 1st degree?
small number of buyers and must be able to estimate reservation price
how must 1st degree be operationalized?
by a 2-part tariff
example of second degree price discrimination
utilities
what happens in second degree? and where is producer surplus
charges different prices for different quantities of good; for goods less than x, consumer gets charged where x hits demand curve and producer surplus is that rectangle to the left
where is consumer surplus in second degree?
all areas where producer surplus is not
why is there consumer surplus in second and third degree but not first degree?
discrimination occurs at group level not individual level so consumers retain some surplus
which form of price discrimination is most common?
3rd degree
3 conditions for 3rd degree to hold
1) Demand must be heterogeneous (different demand segments must have significantly different price elasticities of demand)
2) Managers must be able to identify and segregate different segments at moderate cost
3) Markets must be successfully sealed; customers in one segment must not be able to transfer goods to another segment
where do differences in price elasticities arise?
income, taste or availability of substitutes