Question

A uniform pricing monopolist has the following cost function and faces the following demand curve for its product: C(y) = 20y P(y) = 100 ? y

(b) There are two possible scenarios for the monopolist:

i The government sets a price ceiling of $40/unit in which case the monopolist does not invest in any R&D because it is wary of future government regulation.

ii There is no government regulation, so then the monopolist invests in R&D which then changes the cost function so that MC = 0. Which scenario has higher welfare (ignore the cost of R&D for producer surplus)? Which scenario do the consumers prefer? Explain.

(c) For plan (i), the marginal revenue curve features a discontinuity at some Q. Explain intuitively why the marginal revenue curve has this discontinuity.

(d) Go back to your solution in part a. Suppose now the government allows one other identical firm to enter this market and firms compete on quantity. Let x equal to value of marginal revenue at the monopolist output when there is only one firm. Claim: If the two firms each produce half the monopoly quantity, then MR = x for both firms at the current level of output. Is this claim true, false, or uncertain? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1