In: Economics
Your firm A is a monopoly in a particular market. You can produce at constant marginal cost of $50 for every additional unit you produce. You have avoidable fixed costs of $6,000 per year. You face a market demand curve given by Q = 540 – 2P, where Q is the number of units sold per year, and P is the price per unit.
a. What is the equation of your marginal revenue curve?
b. What is your firm’s profit-maximizing price and quantity? What will be your annual profit contribution at this quantity?
c. Suppose that you face a capacity constraint that allows you to sell at most 200 units per year. As long as you produce less than 200 units per year, your marginal cost of an additional unit continues to be $50. What is your profit-maximizing quantity and price? (Hint: a picture may help here.)
a)
Given
Q=540-2P
or
2P=540-Q
P=270-0.5Q
Total Revenue=TR=P*Q=(270-0.5Q)*Q=270Q-0.5Q^2
Marginal Revenue=MR=dTR/dQ=270-Q
b)
Set MR=MC for profit maximization
270-Q=50
Q=220
P=270-0.5Q=270-0.5*220=$160
Total Revenue=TR=P*Q=160*220=$35200
Total Cost=F+MC*Q=6000+50Q
Total Cost=6000+50*220=$17000
(Fixed cost can be avoided if there is no production. we have considered this cost as fixed cost as firm is working)
Profit=TR-TC=35200-17000=$18200
c)
Profit=TR-TC=270Q-0.5Q2-(6000+50Q)=-6000+220Q-0.5Q2
Following schedule can be made with the help of given information
Q | Price | Profit |
P=270-0.5Q | -6000+220Q-0.5Q2 | |
0 | 270 | 0 |
10 | 265 | -3850 |
40 | 250 | 2000 |
80 | 230 | 8400 |
120 | 210 | 13200 |
160 | 190 | 16400 |
200 | 170 | 18000 |
220 | 160 | 18200 |
240 | 150 | 18000 |
280 | 130 | 16400 |
320 | 110 | 13200 |
360 | 90 | 8400 |
400 | 70 | 2000 |
We have taken fixed cost as zero at zero activity as fixed costs are avoidable.
We can see that profit is increasing at Q=200. So, this will be profit maximizing output at this level.
So, output is 200 units
Price=270-0.5*200=$170
Maximum profit at this stage =$18000 (Refer above table)