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Suppose a profit-maximizing monopolist is producing 800 units of output and is charging a price of \(\$ 40\) per unit. a. If the elasticity of demand for the product is -2 find the marginal cost of the last unit produced. b. What is the firm's percentage markup of price over marginal cost? c. Suppose that the average cost of the last unit produced is \(\$ 15\) and the firm's fixed cost is \(\$ 2000\). Find the firm's profit.

Short Answer

Expert verified
a. The marginal cost of the last unit produced is \$20. b. The firm's percentage markup of price over marginal cost is 100%. c. The firm's profit is \$18000.

Step by step solution

01

Calculate the Marginal Cost

According to the formula for the markup of price over marginal cost for a monopolist, the markup is equal to -1 divided by the price elasticity of demand. Rearranging this formula in terms of marginal cost, we get \(MC = P / (1 + 1/Ed)\), where MC is marginal cost, P is price, and Ed is the elasticity of demand. Plugging in the given values, we get \(MC = $40 / (1 + 1/-2)\), giving us a marginal cost of \($20\).
02

Calculate the Percentage Markup

The markup of price over marginal cost is calculated by subtracting the marginal cost from the price, dividing by the marginal cost, and multiplying by 100. Using the calculated marginal cost from step 1, the calculation is \((\$40 - \$20) / \$20 * 100\), which gives a percentage markup of 100%.
03

Calculate the Total Cost and Profit

The total cost can be calculated by multiplying the average cost per unit by the quantity produced and adding the fixed cost. Here, the total cost is \(\$15 * 800 + \$2000 = \$14000\). The profit is then calculated by subtracting this total cost from the firm's total revenue, which is the price times the quantity, or \$40 * 800 = \$32000. Therefore, the profit is \$32000 - \$14000 = \$18000.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

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