Ch.

9
1. Which of the following is not an assumption of a perfectly competitive market?
A) Fragmented industry
B) Differentiated product
C) Perfect information
D) Equal access to resources

2. Which of the following is not a characteristic of perfect competition?

A) The industry is fragmented.
B) Firms produce undifferentiated products.
C) Consumers have imperfect information.
D) Firms have equal access to resources.

3. Explain the truthfulness of the following statements

I. A characteristic of a perfectly competitive market is that products are
undifferentiated. That is, consumers perceive products to be identical.
II. Equal access to resources is a condition in which all firms, including prospective
entrants, have access to the same technology and inputs.
A) Both I and II are true
B) Both I and II are false
C) I is true; II is false.
D) I is false; II is true.

4. Which of the following will not be true of a perfectly competitive market?

A) Each individual buyer or seller has an imperceptible effect on the market price.
B) A new firm may incur a cost upon entering a market, but has access to the same
technology and inputs as established firms.
C) Different consumers may pay different prices for the same product.
D) Buyers and sellers take the market price as given when making purchasing or
production decisions.

5. An industry in which any potential entrant has access to the same technology and inputs
as existing firms is said to be characterized by
A) Open entry
B) restricted entry
C) free entry
D) profitable entry

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6. Suppose Joe starts his own business. In the first year the business earns $100,000 in
revenue and incurs $85,000 in explicit costs. In addition, Joe has a standing offer to
come work for his brother for $40,000 per year. Joe's accounting profit is _________
and Joe's economic profit is __________.
A) -$25,000 and $15,000
B) $15,000 and $65,000
C) $15,000 and $60,000
D) $15,000 and -$25,000

7. Identify the truthfulness of the following statements.

I. A firm can earn a positive accounting profit but a negative economic profit.
II. Opportunity cost is included in the definition of economic profit but not in the
definition of accounting profit.
A) Both I and II are true.
B) Both I and II are false.
C) I is true; II is false.
D) I is false; II is true.

8. Suppose that for last year, Sarah's small business earned an accounting profit of $70,000
and an economic profit of $20,000. What can we correctly infer about Sarah's business?
A) The difference between Sarah's total opportunity costs and her accounting costs is
$50,000.
B) Sarah's explicit costs were $50,000
C) Sarah's total opportunity cost of her resources was $50,000.
D) Sarah's firm cannot be maximizing profit.

9. Economic Value Added is defined as

A) the same as accounting profit.
B) total revenue less total explicit costs.
C) Accounting profit net of the minimum return on invested capital demanded by the
firm's investors.
D) The same as economic profit.

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10. Which of the following statements about marginal revenue for a perfectly competitive
firm is incorrect, where TR stands for total revenue, P stands for price and q stands for
output?
A)
TR
MR =
q
B) MR = P
C)
TR
MR =
q
D) Marginal revenue is the rate at which total revenue changes with respect to changes
in output.

11. For the data in the following table, which level of q will maximize profit?
q
MR
0
0
10
40
20
30
30
20
40
10
50
5
A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40

MC
0
10
20
30
40
50

12. Suppose that, at the current level of output, a firm in a perfectly competitive market is
producing at a level such that price exceeds marginal cost, P > MC. Marginal cost is
normally shaped (U-shaped). The firm
A) is currently maximizing profit since it is charging a price higher than marginal cost.
B) could increase profit by lowering the level of output.
C) could increase profit by increasing the level of output.
D) cannot increase profit without raising price.

13. Which of the following does not represent a profit-maximizing condition for a firm
operating in a perfectly competitive industry?
A) P = MC.
B) MC = MR.
C) MC must be increasing.
D) MC must be falling.

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14. A fixed cost that the firm cannot avoid if it shuts down and produces zero output must
be:
A) An accounting cost
B) A marginal cost
C) An equilibrium cost
D) A sunk cost

15. Which of the following is an example of a fixed cost that is also a sunk cost for a bakery
as of January 15?
A) The electric bill for the coming calendar year.
B) An accountant's fees for tax preparation in April.
C) The cost of a one-year lease on a building, signed January 1.
D) The salary of the baker for the month of February.

16. The short-run supply curve for a firm operating in perfect competition is
A) the firm's marginal cost curve.
B) the firm's average variable cost curve.
C) the firm's average variable cost curve above marginal cost.
D) the firm's marginal cost curve above the shut down price.

17. The market for sweet potatoes consists of 1,000 identical firms. Each firm has a shortrun total cost curve of STC = 100 + 100 q + 100q2, and a short-run marginal cost curve
of SMC=100+200q, where q is output. What is the equation of the firm's average
variable cost curve?
A) AVC = 100 / q + 100 + 100q .
B) AVC = 100 + 100q .
C) AVC = 100 + 200q .
D) AVC = 100 / q .

18. The market for sweet potatoes consists of 1,000 identical firms. Each firm has a shortrun total cost curve of STC = 100 + 100q + 100q2, and a short-run marginal cost curve
of SMC=100+200q where q is output. What is the minimum level of average variable
costs?
A) AVC = 200.
B) AVC = 0.
C) AVC = 100.
D) AVC = P.

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19. If STC = 200 + 2q + 4q 2 and SMC = 2 + 8q where q is output, what is the minimum
level of average variable cost?
A) 0
B) 2
C) 6
D) 8

27. A perfectly competitive firm's short-run supply curve is determined by the equation:
A) P= AC where P SMC. Otherwise, supply is zero.
B) P=AVC where P SMC. Otherwise, supply is zero.
C) P=SMC where P AC. Otherwise, supply is zero.
D) P=SMC where P AVC or P ANSC orP SAC, depending on the level of sunk
costs. Otherwise, supply is zero.

28. Identify the truthfulness of the following statements.

I. A profit-maximizing firm never produces where P < AVC.
II. A profit-maximizing firm never produces where P < AC.
A) Both I and II are true.
B) Both I and II are false.
C) I is true; II is false.
D) I is false; II is true.

29. Sometimes a firm will continue to operate even if that firm incurs short-run negative
profits (losses). Which of the following characterizes this situation?
A) P = MC = AC.
B) P = MC = AVC
C) P = MC where P > AVC but P < AC.
D) P = MC where P > AC but P < AVC.

30. The short-run market supply curve is derived by ________ supplied of the individual
firm supply curves.
A) vertically summing the prices and quantities
B) horizontally summing the prices and quantities
C) vertically summing the quantities
D) horizontally summing the quantities

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32. Short-run perfectly competitive equilibrium is defined as

A) The market price and quantity at which quantity demanded equals quantity supplied
in the short term.
B) The output level and price where all firms in the market are profit maximizing.
C) The point at which all firms earn zero profits.
D) The point where there is no incentive to enter the market.

34. Which of the following is not true in a long-run perfectly competitive equilibrium?
A) P = MC, where P is market price and MC is the marginal cost of a firm.
B) P = AC, where P is market price and AC is the average cost of a firm.
C) Qd = nq, where q is the supply of an individual firm, n is the number of firms in the
industry, and Qd is the market demand for a product.
D) Firms may earn negative profits.

35. In the long run, free entry drives the market price to the minimum level of ________,
and each firm supplies a quantity equal to its ____________.
A) long-run average cost; price.
B) marginal cost; minimum efficient scale.
C) long-run average cost; minimum efficient scale.
D) marginal cost; price.

37. In a constant cost industry, which of the following statements is true?

A) The long run market supply curve and the long run firm supply curve are both
horizontal.
B) While the long run market supply curve is horizontal, the long run firm supply
curve generally is upwards-sloping.
C) The long run market supply curve and the long run firm supply curve are both
upwards-sloping.
D) While the long run market supply curve is upwards-sloping, the long run firm
supply curve is horizontal.

38. In an increasing cost industry, the long-run market supply curve is

A) downward sloping
B) horizontal
C) upward sloping
D) vertical

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39. Suppose that the tricorder industry is perfectly competitive. The firm of JL Picard is
making a short-term economic profit. The firm of WT Riker decides to enter the
tricorder industry. However, when the WT Riker firm enters the industry, it bids up
some input prices. For this industry, we will likely observe a(n)
A) upward-sloping long-run market supply curve.
B) downward-sloping long-run market supply curve.
C) horizontal long-run market supply curve.
D) vertical long-run market supply curve.

40. Economic rent can be defined as

A) always the same as economic profit.
B) the maximum amount that firms would be willing to pay for a fixed input.
C) the minimum amount that firms actually have to pay for a fixed input.
D) the difference between the maximum amount that firms would be willing to pay for
a fixed input and the minimum amount that firms actually have to pay for that input.

41. Economic rent is associated with __________; economic profit is associated with
_______.
A) a firm; a scarce input.
B) a scarce input; a firm.
C) a fixed input; a variable input.
D) a scarce input; a fixed input.

42. Identify the truthfulness of the following statements.

I. Economic rent may equal economic profit.
II. Economic rent may exceed economic profit.
A) Both I and II are true.
B) Both I and II are false.
C) I is true; II is false.
D) I is false; II is true.

43. Producer surplus for an individual firm is

A) total revenue less total variable cost.
B) total revenue less total fixed cost.
C) total revenue less total non-sunk cost.
D) total revenue less total implicit cost.

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44. Producer surplus for an entire market is

A) the difference between quantity supplied and quantity demanded.
B) the area below the market demand curve and above the market supply curve.
C) the area below price and above the market supply curve.
D) the area above price and below the market demand curve.

45. For an individual firm operating in the short run, producer surplus equals the difference
between total revenues and total non-sunk costs. Thus,
A) producer surplus equals economic profit.
B) producer surplus is less than economic profit.
C) producer surplus is greater than economic profit.
D) producer surplus equals economic rent.

46. For an individual firm operating in the long run, producer surplus equals
A) the difference between total revenues and total opportunity costs.
B) the difference between total revenues and total sunk costs.
C) economic rent.
D) The difference between market demand and market supply.

47. For an entire perfectly competitive industry, which of the following statements is
incorrect in the long run?
A) Economic profit for the industry equals zero.
B) Producer surplus equals economic rent.
C) Economic profit equals total revenues less total costs.
D) Producer surplus for the industry equals economic profit for the industry.

48. In a perfectly competitive, increasing-cost industry in the long run, economic profit for
the industry __________ and economic rent __________.
A) can be positive; can be positive.
B) can be positive; equals zero.
C) equals zero; can be positive.
D) equals zero; equals zero.

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Answer Key
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

B
C
A
C
C
D
A
A
C
A
B
C
D
D
D
D
B
C
B

27.
28.
29.
30.

D
C
C
D

32. A
34. D
35. C
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.

B
C
A
D
B
A
C
C
C
A
B
C

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