How do producers decide:
Answers to these questions are building blocks for supply curves
Nearly all goods must be produced before we can exchange & consume them
Consumption is the destruction of value to gain utility
Consider a simple example — Robinson Crusoe stranded on a deserted island
Anything he wants to consume, he must first produce
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
1 Banana | 1 Coconut | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 0.5C | 2B |
Plot B | 0.33C | 3B |
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
1 Banana | 1 Coconut | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 0.5C | 2B |
Plot B | 0.33C | 3B |
† In other words, the marginal cost!
Production possibilities frontier (PPF) displaying possible combinations of outputs
Slope called marginal rate of transformation (MRT), or just call it marginal cost
Increasing marginal cost: to produce more of a good, opportunity cost rises as he cultivates more plots of land
Producing Bananas (x-axis), start with most productive plot first (B), then start cultivation on (A)
Imagine now there are many various plots of land, differing in quality
So a more-fully curved PPF
Imagine now there are many various plots of land, differing in quality
So a more-fully curved PPF
Again, increasing marginal cost with more production (worse land)
Based on his preferences, his productive & consumption optimum is point A (highest Indifference curve tangent to PPF)
At this point: MRT⏟PPF slope=MRS⏟I.C. slope=pbpc⏟price line
Now suppose he has the opportunity to trade with others
Current market exchange rate is the slope of darker purple dashed line
Now suppose he has the opportunity to trade with others
Current market exchange rate is the slope of darker purple dashed line
He will specialize in production of Bananas, produce more of them (A→B) to trade to get coconuts
He will trade at the market prices (slope of dark purple dashed line)
Allows him to reach higher indifference curve at point C, new consumption optimum
Trade is good
Specialization and Comparative advantage
Adam Smith
1723-1790
"The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour," (Book I, Chapter 1).
Smith, Adam, 1776, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Trade is good
Specialization and Comparative advantage
MRT⏟PPF slope=MRS⏟I.C. slope=pbpc⏟price line
In modern market economies, most production takes place in a legal organization known as the firm
It does not have to be this way, and for most of history it was not this way!
Firms exist in the forms they do because they are an efficient response to particular problems of economic organization
Lots of interesting, Nobel-prize winning, analysis
For now, we'll sidestep these and just assume firms exist. Learn more in my Industrial Organization course:
We'll assume "the firm" is the agent to model:
So what do firms do?
How would we set up an optimization model:
Choose: < some alternative >
In order to maximize: < some objective >
Subject to: < some constraints >
Firms convert some goods to other goods:
Inputs: x1,x2,⋯,xn
Firms convert some goods to other goods:
Inputs: x1,x2,⋯,xn
Output: q
The production function
The production algorithm
q=Af(t,l,k)
Factor | Owned By | Earns |
---|---|---|
Land (t) | Landowners | Rent |
Labor (l) | Laborers | Wages |
Capital (k) | Capitalists | Interest |
q=f(l,k)
Factor | Owned By | Earns |
---|---|---|
Labor (l) | Laborers | Wages |
Capital (k) | Capitalists | Interest |
We will assume firms maximize profit (π)
Not true for all firms
Even profit-seeking firms may also want to maximize additional things
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
It can buy each input xi at an associated price pi
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
It can buy each input xi at an associated price pi
The profit of selling q units and using inputs l,k is:
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
Profits are the residual value leftover after paying all factors
Profits are income for the residual claimant(s) of the production process (i.e. owner(s) of a firm):
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
Residual claimants have incentives to maximize firm's profits, as this maximizes their own income
Entrepreneurs and shareholders are the only participants in production that are not guaranteed an income!
In markets, production must face the profit test:
Profits are an indication that value is being created for society
Losses are an indication that value is being destroyed for society
Survival in markets requires firms continually create value & earn profits
Choose: < some alternative >
In order to maximize: < profits >
Subject to: < technology >
What do firms choose? (Not an easy answer)
Prices?
Essential question: how competitive is a market? This will influence what firms (can) do
Begin with one extreme case: "perfect competition"
Appropriate for settings with many firms, each small relative to market
After we find firm's optimal decisions in this market (and have Exam 2), we will then finally look at market equilibrium
Put Supply and Demand together
We've seen how consumers cause and respond to market changes
We're about to explore how producers cause and respond to market changes
Finally we can explain all of these market changes with Supply and Demand equilibrium models
Discuss how markets work, why they are good & efficient, and when they fail
Examine another extreme case: monopoly of a single seller
"Imperfect competition": models of monopolistic competition & oligopoly
Firms can choose both q∗ & p∗ to maximize π
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How do producers decide:
Answers to these questions are building blocks for supply curves
Nearly all goods must be produced before we can exchange & consume them
Consumption is the destruction of value to gain utility
Consider a simple example — Robinson Crusoe stranded on a deserted island
Anything he wants to consume, he must first produce
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
1 Banana | 1 Coconut | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 0.5C | 2B |
Plot B | 0.33C | 3B |
Max Bananas | Max Coconuts | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 10 | 5 |
Plot B | 45 | 15 |
1 Banana | 1 Coconut | |
---|---|---|
Plot A | 0.5C | 2B |
Plot B | 0.33C | 3B |
† In other words, the marginal cost!
Production possibilities frontier (PPF) displaying possible combinations of outputs
Slope called marginal rate of transformation (MRT), or just call it marginal cost
Increasing marginal cost: to produce more of a good, opportunity cost rises as he cultivates more plots of land
Producing Bananas (x-axis), start with most productive plot first (B), then start cultivation on (A)
Imagine now there are many various plots of land, differing in quality
So a more-fully curved PPF
Imagine now there are many various plots of land, differing in quality
So a more-fully curved PPF
Again, increasing marginal cost with more production (worse land)
Based on his preferences, his productive & consumption optimum is point A (highest Indifference curve tangent to PPF)
At this point: MRT⏟PPF slope=MRS⏟I.C. slope=pbpc⏟price line
Now suppose he has the opportunity to trade with others
Current market exchange rate is the slope of darker purple dashed line
Now suppose he has the opportunity to trade with others
Current market exchange rate is the slope of darker purple dashed line
He will specialize in production of Bananas, produce more of them (A→B) to trade to get coconuts
He will trade at the market prices (slope of dark purple dashed line)
Allows him to reach higher indifference curve at point C, new consumption optimum
Trade is good
Specialization and Comparative advantage
Adam Smith
1723-1790
"The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour," (Book I, Chapter 1).
Smith, Adam, 1776, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Trade is good
Specialization and Comparative advantage
MRT⏟PPF slope=MRS⏟I.C. slope=pbpc⏟price line
In modern market economies, most production takes place in a legal organization known as the firm
It does not have to be this way, and for most of history it was not this way!
Firms exist in the forms they do because they are an efficient response to particular problems of economic organization
Lots of interesting, Nobel-prize winning, analysis
For now, we'll sidestep these and just assume firms exist. Learn more in my Industrial Organization course:
We'll assume "the firm" is the agent to model:
So what do firms do?
How would we set up an optimization model:
Choose: < some alternative >
In order to maximize: < some objective >
Subject to: < some constraints >
Firms convert some goods to other goods:
Inputs: x1,x2,⋯,xn
Firms convert some goods to other goods:
Inputs: x1,x2,⋯,xn
Output: q
The production function
The production algorithm
q=Af(t,l,k)
Factor | Owned By | Earns |
---|---|---|
Land (t) | Landowners | Rent |
Labor (l) | Laborers | Wages |
Capital (k) | Capitalists | Interest |
q=f(l,k)
Factor | Owned By | Earns |
---|---|---|
Labor (l) | Laborers | Wages |
Capital (k) | Capitalists | Interest |
We will assume firms maximize profit (π)
Not true for all firms
Even profit-seeking firms may also want to maximize additional things
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
It can buy each input xi at an associated price pi
In economics, profit is simply benefits minus (opportunity) costs
Suppose firm sells output q at price p
It can buy each input xi at an associated price pi
The profit of selling q units and using inputs l,k is:
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
Profits are the residual value leftover after paying all factors
Profits are income for the residual claimant(s) of the production process (i.e. owner(s) of a firm):
π=pq⏟revenues−(wl+rk)⏟costs
Residual claimants have incentives to maximize firm's profits, as this maximizes their own income
Entrepreneurs and shareholders are the only participants in production that are not guaranteed an income!
In markets, production must face the profit test:
Profits are an indication that value is being created for society
Losses are an indication that value is being destroyed for society
Survival in markets requires firms continually create value & earn profits
Choose: < some alternative >
In order to maximize: < profits >
Subject to: < technology >
What do firms choose? (Not an easy answer)
Prices?
Essential question: how competitive is a market? This will influence what firms (can) do
Begin with one extreme case: "perfect competition"
Appropriate for settings with many firms, each small relative to market
After we find firm's optimal decisions in this market (and have Exam 2), we will then finally look at market equilibrium
Put Supply and Demand together
We've seen how consumers cause and respond to market changes
We're about to explore how producers cause and respond to market changes
Finally we can explain all of these market changes with Supply and Demand equilibrium models
Discuss how markets work, why they are good & efficient, and when they fail
Examine another extreme case: monopoly of a single seller
"Imperfect competition": models of monopolistic competition & oligopoly
Firms can choose both q∗ & p∗ to maximize π