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Which of the following constitutes an implicit cost to the Johnston Manufacturing Company?
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depreciation charges on company-owned equipment
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Implicit and explicit costs are different in that:
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the former refer to nonexpenditure costs and the latter to out-of-pocket costs.
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Implicit costs are:
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nonexpenditure costs.
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Economic profits are calculated by subtracting:
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explicit and implicit costs from total revenue.
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The basic characteristic of the short run is that:
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the firm does not have sufficient time to change the size of its plant.
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Which of the following is a short-run adjustment?
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A local bakery hires two additional bakers.
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To economists the main difference between the short run and the long run is that:
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in the long run all resources are variable, while in the short run at least one resource is fixed.
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The short run is characterized by:
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at least one fixed resource.
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The long run is characterized by:
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the ability of the firm to change its plant size.
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If a variable input is added to some fixed input, beyond some point the resulting extra output will decline. This statement describes:
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the law of diminishing returns.
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Fixed cost is:
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any cost which does not change when the firm changes its output.
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Which of the following is most likely to be a fixed cost?
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property insurance premiums
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Which of the following is most likely to be a variable cost?
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fuel and power payments
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If you operated a small bakery, which of the following would be a variable cost in the short run?
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baking supplies (flour, salt, etc.)
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Marginal cost is the:
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change in total cost that results from producing one more unit of output.
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Average fixed cost:
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declines continually as output increases.
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If a firm decides to produce no output in the short run, its costs will be:
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its fixed costs.
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Fixed costs are associated with:
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the short run only.
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Total cost minus total variable cost equals:
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total fixed cost.
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In the long run:
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all costs are variable costs.
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Diseconomies of scale:
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pertain to the long run.
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Which of the following industries most closely approximates pure competition?
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agriculture
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Economists use the term imperfect competition to describe:
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those markets which are not purely competitive
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A purely competitive seller is:
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a "price taker."
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The demand schedule or curve confronted by the individual purely competitive firm is:
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perfectly elastic.
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A perfectly elastic demand curve implies that the firm:
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can sell as much output as it chooses at the existing price.
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Marginal revenue for a purely competitive firm:
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is equal to price.
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Firms seek to maximize:
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total profit.
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If a purely competitive firm shuts down in the short run:
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it will realize a loss equal to its total fixed costs.
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In the short run a purely competitive seller will shut down if product price:
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is less than AVC
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A purely competitive firm's short-run supply curve is:
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its marginal cost curve above average variable cost.
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A constant-cost industry is one in which:
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resource prices remain unchanged as output is increased.
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Under pure competition in the long run:
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both allocative efficiency and productive efficiency are achieved.
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Pure monopoly means:
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a single firm producing a product for which there are no close substitutes.
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Which of the following is correct?
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A purely competitive firm is a "price taker," while a monopolist is a "price maker."
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A pure monopolist is:
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a one-firm industry
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In the short run, a monopolist's economic profits:
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may be positive or negative depending on market demand and cost conditions.
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There is some evidence to suggest that X-inefficiency is:
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more likely to occur in monopolistic firms than in competitive firms.
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Monopolistic competition means:
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many firms producing differentiated products.
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Under monopolistic competition entry to the industry is:
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more difficult than under pure competition but not nearly as difficult as under pure monopoly.
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The restaurant, legal assistance, and clothing industries are each illustrations of:
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monopolistic competition.
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In the short run a monopolistically competitive firm's economic profit:
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may be positive, zero, or negative.
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The term oligopoly indicates:
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a few firms producing either a differentiated or a homogeneous product.
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In an oligopolistic market:
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products may be standardized or differentiated.
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The automobile, household appliance, and automobile tire industries are all illustrations of:
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differentiated oligopoly.
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The copper, aluminum, cement, and industrial alcohol industries are examples of:
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homogeneous oligopoly.
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Which of the following is the best example of oligopoly?
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automobile manufacturing
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Homogeneous oligopoly exists where a small number of firms are:
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producing virtually identical products.
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Which of the following is a unique feature of oligopoly?
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mutual interdependence
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Concentration ratios measure the:
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percentage of total sales accounted for by the four largest firms in the industry.
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If the four-firm concentration ratio for industry X is 80:
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the four largest firms account for 80 percent of total sales.
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An industry having a four-firm concentration ratio of 85 percent:
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is an oligopoly.
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OPEC provides an example of:
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an international cartel.
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The Clayton Act of 1914:
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outlawed price discrimination, tying contracts, intercorporate stockholding, and interlocking directorates that lessen competition.
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The Sherman Act was designed to:
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make monopoly and acts that restrain trade illegal.
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The function of investigating instances of fraudulent advertising has been assigned to the:
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Federal Trade Commission.
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Which of the following gave the Federal Trade Commission responsibility to protect the public against false and misleading advertising?
answer
Wheeler-Lea Act of 1938
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The basic issue in the DuPont cellophane case was:
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defining the relevant market.