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Consider the curve in the figure below, which shows the market demand, marginal cost, and marginal revenue curve for firms in an oligopolistic industry. In this example, we assume firms have zero fixed costs.

a. Suppose the firms collude to form a cartel. What price will the cartel charge? What quantity will the cartel

supply? How much profit will the cartel earn?

b. Suppose now that the cartel breaks up and the oligopolistic firms compete as vigorously as possible by cutting the price and increasing sales. What will be the industry quantity and price? What will be the collective profits of all firms in the industry?

c. Compare the equilibrium price, quantity, and profit for the cartel and cutthroat competition outcomes.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Part(a).

In this situation the cartel would earn more profits and prices would go up.

Part(b).

When cartel breaks up prices are expected to go back to approximately pre-cartel levels as competition is restored.

Part(c).

It is based on the various forces of supply and demand.

Step by step solution

01

Part(a) - Step 1: To determine

The price, amount supplied, and profit of the company if the firms establish a cartel can be calculated using the graphic provided.

02

Part(a)-Step 2. Explanation

The enterprises will monopolise their prices and quantity supplied if they join a cartel. They will generate the following output: MR=MC. MC and Average cost (AC) will be equal if the fixed costs are zero. Because the MC curve is horizontal, the AC curve will be as well.As a result, in the diagram below, the shaded area represents the economic profit.

03

Part(a)-Step 3: Final answer

Pmstands for price, Qmfor quantity, and profit is the shaded area in the diagram.

04

Part(b)- Step 4:To determine 

If the cartel disbands and each company competes on its own. What will the new price, quantity, and profit margins be in the industry?

05

Part(b)- Step 5: Explanation

Individual enterprises will face cutthroat competition if the cartel breaks down. To attract clients, businesses lower their prices and increase output. They'll keep doing it till they're out of money. When demand equals AC, the long-run equilibrium is attained. As a result, the industry price and quantity supplied will vary, and there will be no economic profit.

06

Part(b)- Step 6: Final answer

The price is P1m, the quantity is Q1m, and the profit is zero.

07

Part(c)- Step 7: To determine

Compare the prices, quantities, and profits of the old and new industries.

08

Part(c)- Step 8: Explanation

When a company forms a cartel, its profit increases (Pm>P1m,Qm<Q1m). However, if the cartel is broken apart, their profit is reduced to zero.

09

Part(c) - Step 9: Final answer

The price is larger than P1m, the quantity is less than Q1m, and the profit is zero.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Mary and Raj are the only two growers who provide organically grown corn to a local grocery store. They know that if they cooperated and produced less corn, they could raise the price of the corn. If they work independently, they will each earn \(100. If they decide to work together and both lower their output, they can each earn \)150. If one person lowers output and the other does not, the person who lowers output will earn \(0and the other person will capture the entire market and will earn \)200. Table 10.6represents the choices available to Mary and Raj. What is the best choice for Raj if he is sure that Mary will cooperate? If Mary thinks Raj will cheat, what should Mary do and why? What is the prisoner鈥檚 dilemma result? What is the preferred choice if they could ensure cooperation? A = Work independently; B = Cooperate and Lower Output. (Each results entry lists Raj鈥檚 earnings first, and Mary's earnings second.)

RAJ MARY
(A) (B)
(\(100,\)100) (\(200,\)0)
(\(0,\)200) (\(150,\)150)

Would you rather have efficiency or variety? That is, one opportunity cost of the variety of products we have is that each product costs more per unit than if there were only one kind of product of a given type, like shoes. Perhaps a better question is, 鈥淲hat is the right amount of variety? Can there be too many varieties of shoes, for example?鈥

Suppose that, due to a successful advertising campaign, a monopolistic competitor experiences an increase in demand for its product. How will that affect the price it charges and the quantity it supplies?

When OPEC raised the price of oil dramatically in the mid-1970s, experts said it was unlikely that the cartel could stay together over the long term鈥攖hat the incentives for individual members to cheat would become too strong. More than forty years later, OPEC still exists. Why do you think OPEC has been able to beat the odds and continue to collude? Hint: You may wish to consider non-economic reasons.

Sometimes oligopolies in the same industry are very different in size. Suppose we have a duopoly where one firm

(Firm A) is large and the other firm (Firm B) is small, as the prisoner鈥檚 dilemma box in Table 10.4 shows.


Firm B colludes with firm AFirm B cheats by selling more output
Firm A colludes with firm B
A gets \(1000,B gets \)100A gets \(800, B gets \)200
Firm A cheats by selling more outputA gets \(1050, B gets\)50A gets \(500, B gets \)20

Assuming that both firms know the payoffs, what is the likely outcome in this case?

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