Question 1:
You are the manager of a firm selling shirts. Explain how you would employ the concepts of elasticities to make key managerial decisions.
Question 2:
What are the implications for long run profits in a monopolistic competition? What strategies would you consider to avoid zero long run profits?
Question 3:
(a) In a two-player, one-shot simultaneous-move game each player can choose strategy A or strategy B. If both players choose strategy A, each earns a payoff of $500. If both players choose strategy B, each earns a payoff of $100. If player 1 chooses strategy A and player B chooses strategy B, then player 1 earns $0 and player 2 earns $650. If player 1 chooses strategy B and player 2 chooses strategy A, then player 1 earns $650 and player 2 earns $0.
i. Write the above game in normal form.
ii. Find each player's dominant strategy, if it exists.
iii. Find the Nash equilibrium (or equilibria) of this game.
iv. Rank strategy pairs by aggregate payoff.
v. Can the outcome with the highest aggregate payoff be sustained in equilibrium? Why or why not?
(b) Why would firms in an oligopoly wish to collude? Use examples to illustrate.
(c) What factors can affect the decisions to sustain collusive agreements?