Two large firms are about to enter the market for a new pain reliever. Suppose that the demand curve is given by:
Q = 2600 -400 P
Where Q = number of bottles
And P = price per bottle
This means that the marginal revenue function is given by:
MR = 6.5 - 0.005 Q
The marginal cost of producing the pain reliever is a constant $2.00 per bottle.
a. How much would a monopolist produce? What would she charge?
b. What would the output and price be if the market consisted of a Cournot duopoly (each firm having MC = 2 dollars)?
Firm 1's Marginal Revenue curve would be
MR1 = 6.5 - 0.005Q1 - 0.0025Q2
Firm 2's would be
MR2 = 6.5 - 0.005Q2 - 0.0025Q1
You can solve this either algebraically or graphically.
c. What would the output and price be under perfect competition?