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Chapter 7
Short-run Equilibrium
• Any firm maximizes profits producing the output where its
marginal cost curve intersects the marginal revenue curve from
below - or by producing nothing if average cost exceeds price at
all outputs.
• A perfectly competitive firm is a quantity-adjuster, facing a
perfectly elastic demand curve at the given market price and
maximizing profits by choosing the output that equates its
marginal cost to price.
• The supply curve of a firm in perfect competition is its marginal
cost curve, and the supply curve of a perfectly competitive
industry is the sum of the marginal cost curves of all its firms.
• The intersection of this curve with the market demand curve for
the industry’s product determines market price.
CHAPTER 7: PERFECT COMPETITION
Long-run Equilibrium
• Long-run industry equilibrium requires that each individual firm
be producing at the minimum point of its LRAC curve and be
making zero profits.
• The long-run industry supply curve for a perfectly competitive
industry may be [i] positively sloped, if input prices are driven up
by the industry’s expansion; [ii] horizontal, if plants can be
replicated and factor prices remain constant; or [iii] negatively
sloped, if some other industry that is not perfectly competitive
produces an input under conditions of falling long-run costs.
The Allocative Efficiency of Perfect Competition
• Perfect competition produces an optimal allocation of resources
because it maximizes the sum of consumers’ and producers’
surplus by producing equilibrium where marginal cost equals
price.
The Demand Curve for a Competitive Industry and for One Firm
5 5
4 S
4
Price [£]
Dfirm
Price [£]
3 3
2 2
1 1
D
60
100 200 300 400 10 20 30 40 50
Quantity [millions of tons] Quantity [thousands of tons]
[i] Competitive industry’s demand curve [ii] Competitive firm’s demand curve
The Demand Curve for a Competitive Industry and for One Firm
TR
AR = MP = p
3 £’ 39
30
0 10 0 10 13
Output
Output
[i] Average and marginal revenue [ii] Total revenue
Revenue Curve for a Firm
Because price does not change as the firm varies its output,
neither marginal nor average revenue varies with output
-both are equal to price.
When price is constant, total revenue is a straight line
through the origin whose constant positive slope is the price
per unit.
The Short-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
£
per
unit
AVC
Output
The Short-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
£ MC
per
unit
AVC
Output
The Short-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
£ MC
per
unit
AVC
p=MR=AR
q2 qE q1
Output
The Short-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
The firm chooses the output for which p=MC above the level
of AVC.
When price equals marginal cost, as at output qE, the firm
loses profits if it either increases or decreases its output.
At any point left of qE, say q2, price is greater than the
marginal cost, and it pays to increase output (as indicated by
the left-hand arrow).
At any point to the right of qE, say q1, price is less than the
marginal cost, and it pays to reduce output (as indicated by
the right-hand arrow).
Total Cost and Revenue Curves
TC
TR
0 qE
Output
Total Cost and Revenue Curves
MC
5 5
£ per nut
4 4
Price [£]
AVC
3 3
E0
p0
2 2
1 1
Output q0 Quantity
[i] Marginal cost and average variable cost curves [ii] The supply curve
The Supply Curve for a Price-taking Firm
MC
5 5
£ per nut
4 4
Price [£]
AVC
E1 p1
3 3
E0
p0
2 2
1 1
q0 q1
Output Quantity
[i] Marginal cost and average variable cost curves [ii] The supply curve
The Supply Curve for a Price-taking Firm
MC
5 5
E2 p2
4 4
£ per nut
Price [£]
AVC
E1 p1
3 3
E0
p0
2 2
1 1
Output q0 q1 q2 Quantity
[i] Marginal cost and average variable cost curves [ii] The supply curve
The Supply Curve for a Price-taking Firm
MC S
E3 p3
5 5
E2 p2
4 4
£ per nut
Price [£]
AVC
E1 p1
3 3
E0
p0
2 2
1 1
q0 q1 q2 q3
Output Quantity
[i] Marginal cost and average variable cost curves [ii] The supply curve
The Supply Curve for a Price-taking Firm
For a price-taking firm the supply curve has the same shape
as its MC curve above the level of AVC.
The point E0, where price, p0, equals AVC is the shutdown
point.
As price rises from £2 to £3 to £4 to £5, the firm increases its
production from q0 to q1 to q2 to q3 .
For example at a price of £3, the firm produces output q1 and
earns the contribution to fixed costs shown by the dark blue
shaded rectangle.
The firm’s supply curve is shown in part (ii). It relates market
price to the quantity the firm will produce and offer for sale.
It has the same shape as the firm’s MC curve for all prices
above AVC.
Alternative Short-run Equilibrium Positions for a Firm in Perfect Competition
SRATC [i]
£ per unit MC
p1 E
SRAVC
0 q1 Output
Alternative Short-run Equilibrium Positions for a Firm in Perfect Competition
SRATC [ii]
£ per unit
MC
E
p2
0 q2 Output
MC
Alternative Short-run Equilibrium Positions for a Firm in Perfect Competition
SRATC [iii]
MC
£ per unit
E
p3
0 q3
Output
Alternative Short-run Equilibrium Positions for a Firm in Perfect Competition
£ per unit
£ per unit
E E
p1 p2
SARVC
0 q1 Output 0 q2 Output
MC
[iii]
£ per unit
SRATC
E
p3
0 q3
Output
Short-run Equilibrium Positions for a Firm in Perfect Competition
(i) The firm is making losses
S
Price
E
Consumer surplus Market price
p0
Producers surplus
0
q0
Quantity
Consumers’ and Producers’ Surplus
Consumers’ surplus is the area under the demand curve and above
the market price line.
The equilibrium price and quantity are p0 and q0.
The total value that consumers place on q0 units of the product is
given by the sum of the dark yellow, light yellow, and light blue areas.
The amount that they pay is p0q0, the rectangle that consists of the
light yellow and light blue areas.
The difference, shown as the dark yellow area, is consumers’
surplus.
Consumers’ and Producers’ Surplus
Producers surplus is the area above the supply curve and below the
market price line.
The receipts of producers from the sale of q0 units are also p0q0.
The area under the supply curve, the blue-shaded area, is total
variable cost, which is the minimum amount that producers must
receive to induce them to supply the output.
The difference, shown as the light yellow area, is producers’ surplus.
The Allocative Efficiency of Perfect Competition
S
Price
4
2 D
0 q1 q0 q2
Quantity
The Allocative Efficiency of Perfect Competition
SRATC0
£ per unit
MC0
p0
MC*
c0
SRATC*
LRAC
p*
0 q0
q*
Short-run and Long-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
The firm’s existing plant has short-run cost curves SRATC0 and
MC0 while market price is p0.
The firm produces q0, where MC0 equals price and total costs are
just being covered.
Although the firm is in short-run equilibrium, it can earn profits by
building a larger plant and so moving downwards along its LRAC
curve.
Short-run and Long-run Equilibrium of a Firm in Perfect Competition
S0 S0
Price
Price
Quantity S0 Quantity
Price
Quantity
Long-run Industry Supply Curves
D0 S0 D0 S0
Price
E0
E0
Price
p0 p0
S0
D0
q1 Quantity q1 Quantity
Price
p0 E0
q1 Quantity
Long-run Industry Supply Curves
D1
D1 S0 D0 S0
D0
E1
Price
E1
E0
Price
p0 E0
p0
S0
q1 Quantity D0 q1
D1 E1 Quantity
E0
Price
p0
q1 Quantity
Long-run Industry Supply Curves
D1
D1 S0 D0 S0
(ii)
D0 (i) E1
Price
E2
E1 p0
E0 LRS
E2
Price
p0 E0
p0 = p2
LRS
D1 q2
S0
q1 q2 Quantity D0 q1 Quantity
E1
E0 (iii)
Price
p0
E2
p0 LRS
q1 q2 Quantity
(i) A constant long-run industry supply curve