Assignment:
PART I: SHORT RESPONSE
Directions: Please provide detailed and elaborate responses to the following questions. Your responses should be a minimum of 1 to 2 paragraphs and should include examples from the reading assignments or personal experience, if possible.
1. How do you ?nd the most ef?cient output, and how do you ?nd the most pro?table output?
2. At the output at which a ?rm maximizes its pro?ts, what two variables are equal?
3. At the output at which a ?rm minimizes its losses, what two variables are equal?
4. Is the analysis for maximizing pro?ts the same as that for minimizing losses?
5. At the output at which MC = MR, suppose that price were higher than AVC, but lower than ATC. What should the firm do in the short-run and the long-run? Explain your answer.
6. What is the difference between the ?rm's short-run supply curve and its long-run supply curve? Make up an example to explain your answer.
7. Does the perfect competitor always break even in the long run? Explain why or why not.
PART II - ESSAY
Directions: Please write a 1000-1500 word paper in which you address the questions below. Please format your paper according to APA guidelines (including a title page). Make sure to cite your references in a reference section. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for guidelines on using LIRN and APA format.
You walk into a restaurant with a friend for lunch and you notice that you are the only customers there. Your friend comments: "I can't believe they can afford to keep this place open at lunch time, when they only get a handful of clients. It doesn't make sense to stay open for lunch."
Explain what conditions must be true for a restaurant to find it in its best interest to be open for lunch. Which costs are relevant when making the decision to stay open? Consider the cost of rent, equipment, food, and salaries for management, the cooks, and the waiters.
If the restaurant typically had the same number of customers for dinner as it had for lunch, could it continue to operate? Why?