In: Economics
Anil is planning a birthday party at an amusement park for his younger daughter and her friends. The manager of the park is considering whether to use uniform pricing or two-part-pricing. Anil's willingness to pay for rides for the party is p = 25 - 0.5Q, where p is the ticket price per ride and Q is the number of rides. The amusement park has a marginal cost of $5 for each additional ride. Its fixed cost for handling the party is $20.
a. Create a spreadsheet with quantity, price, consumer surplus, revenue, marginal revenue, cost, marginal cost, and profit as column headings. Fill in the spreadsheets cells for Q = 5 to Q = 50 in increments of 5 units. If the manager uses uniform pricing, what is the profit maximizing ticket price per ride, the number of rides, and the profit earned by the park?
b. Suppose that the manager uses two-part pricing: an entry fee for the entire party of young girls and price per ride. Calculate the profit-maximizing entry fee if the price per ride is the same as the monopoly price that you determined in part a. Calculate the total profit earned by the park.
c. Now suppose the manager uses two-part-pricing with a per-ride price equal to marginal cost and a profit-maximizing entry fee. Determine the price per ride, the number of rides, and the total profit (including profit from ticket sales and the entry fee) in this case.