Assignment: Perfectly Competitive and Monopoly Firms

In this Assignment, you will calculate total cost, total revenue, and total profit/loss. Based on the computed results, you will determine the optimal quantity of output that maximizes profit under a perfectly competitive market. Moreover, you will evaluate the antitrust laws and merger guidelines based on market shares of firms to prevent a monopoly and promote competition in the economy.

Instructions: Answer all of the following questions. You are required to follow proper APA format. Read the Criteria section below for more information before you begin this Assignment.

In this Assignment, you will be assessed on the following outcomes:

Analyze the production decision in profit maximization for the four primary market structures.

Apply ethical rules governing the field of study.

1. How does the demand curve faced by a perfectly competitive firm differ from the market demand curve in a perfectly competitive market? Explain.

2. A perfectly competitive firm has the following fixed and variable costs in the short run. The market price for the firm's product is $140.

Output  FC    VC      TC      TR   Profit/Loss
   0       $90  $ 0     ___     ___       ___
   1       90    90      ___     ___       ___
   2       90    170    ___     ___       ___
   3       90    290    ___     ___       ___
   4       90    430    ___     ___       ___
   5       90    590    ___     ___       ___
   6       90    770    ___     ___       ___

a. Complete the table.

b. What level of output should the firm produce to maximize profits?

c. Assume this firm is making a loss when it produces its 7th unit of output. What should the firm do in the short-run? Should it operate at loss or shutdown in the short run?

3. How does the profit maximization condition for a monopoly differ from that for a perfectly competitive firm? How does this difference impact efficiency under each market structure? Explain.

4. The following table provides market share information about the soft-drink industry. Review anti-trust laws and the merger guidelines under "Chapter 15:Monopoly and Antitrust Policy" and conduct your own research onU.S. anti-trust lawsin the KU Online Library or the internet to answer the following questions.

Company Market Share
Coca-Cola 37%
Pepsi-Co 35%
Cadbury Schweppers 17%
Other 11%

a. Apply theHerfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)market concentration rules that guide mergers between companies to prevent monopoly creation and to promote competition among firms. Based on the market sharesof the companies in the table, the merger of which companies will be highly concentrated? What ethical rules will be affected based on U.S. anti-trust laws and merger guidelines in regard to a highly concentrated market?

b. Do you think the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission would approve a merger between any two of the first three companieslisted in the table based U.S. merger guidelines and anti-trust laws? Explain.

c. Do you think this market has barriers to entry? If yes, what might be the market barriers?