Total variable costs with decreasing output. A) always increase B) always decrease C) initially increase and then decrease D) initially decrease and then increase

Consider a two-firm industry. firm 1 (the incumbent) chooses a level of output q1. firm 2 (the potential entrant) observes q1 and then chooses its level of output q2. the demand for the product is p = 100 - q, where q is the total output sold by the two firms which equals q1 +q2. assume that the marginal cost of each firm is zero. a) find the subgame perfect equilibrium levels of q1 and q2 keeping in mind that firm 1 chooses q1 first and firm 2 observes q1 and chooses its q2. find the profits of the two firms-? 1 and ? 2- in the subgame perfect equilibrium. how do these numbers differ from the cournot equilibrium? b) for what level of q1 would firm 2 be deterred from entering? would a rational firm 1 have an incentive to choose this level of q1? which entry condition does this market have: blockaded, deterred, or accommodated? now suppose that firm 2 has to incur a fixed cost of entry, f > 0. c) for what values of f will entry be blockaded? d) find out the entry deterring level of q1, denoted by q1b, as a function of f. next, derive the expression for firm 1

Anew equipment has been proposed by engineers to increase the productivity of a certain manual welding operation. the investment cost is $25,000, and the equipment will have a market value of $5,000 at the end of a study period of five years. increased productivity attributable to the equipment will amount to $10,000 per year after operating costs have been subtracted from the revenue generated by the additional production. if marr is 10%, is investing in this equipment feasible? use annual worth method.

Afactory owner wants his workers to produce as many widgets as they can so he pays his workers based on how many widgets they produce. however, in order to make sure that the workers do not rush and produce a large number of poorly made widgets, he checks the widgets at random at various stages of their manufacture. if a defect is found in a widget, the pay of the entire section of the factory responsible for that defect is docked. how is this factory owner seeking to solve the agency conflict problem in this case?