Explain how a firm can have constant returns to scale in production and economies of scale in cost. What will be an ideal response? ANSWER A firm can have constant returns to scale in production at every output level. If the firm doubled all inputs the output would double. However, the firm may also […]
A social welfare function (SWF) A) depicts the preferences of the president of the country. B) combines various consumers’ utilities to provide a collective ranking of allocations. C) indicates the choices that are acceptable by most consumers. D) is the outcome of a majority voting decision rule. ANSWER B
If society were to maximize the utility of its best-off member, the final allocation would be A) perfect equity. B) on the contract curve. C) Pareto efficient. D) one in which one person gets everything. ANSWER D
If government chooses a policy that does not lead to a Pareto improvement, one may say that A) this policy creates only winners. B) this policy creates winners and losers. C) only poor people benefit from this policy. D) this policy only creates losers. ANSWER B
In the long run, the expansion path is A) horizontal. B) vertical. C) diagonal. D) Not enough information. ANSWER D
Comparing the distribution of wealth of the wealthiest 1% of the population in the United States before and after the recent Great Recession to what occurred before and after the Great Depression, A) the percentage of the wealth of the wealthiest 1% increased after the recent Great Recession, unlike what happened after the Great Depression. […]
Explain why the long-run total cost curve, not the short-run total cost curve, shows the lowest cost of producing any level of output. Is there an exception? What will be an ideal response? ANSWER In the long run, all costs are variable so the firm can select the least-cost mix of all inputs to […]
Long-run average cost is never greater than short-run average cost because in the long run, A) capital costs equal zero. B) the firm can move to the lowest possible isocost curve. C) wages always increase over time. D) wages always decrease over time. ANSWER B
“If the wage rate paid to one form of labor is twice the cost of another form of labor, the first type of labor must be twice as productive.” Comment. Indicate whether the statement is true or false ANSWER true . Firms minimize cost by setting the ratio of marginal productivity per unit cost […]
In the short run, the expansion path is A) horizontal. B) vertical. C) diagonal. D) indeterminate. ANSWER A