The objective of the firm

6 important questions on The objective of the firm


Economics can be defined “the study of how scarce resources are or should be allocated”. 
Explain how profit maximisation and cost minimisation connect to this. 

Economics deals with the allocation of scarce resources. Scarce usually means that something has a price. Output and inputs also have prices. In profit maximisation and cost minimisation the goal is to find the economically optimal allocation of inputs (to produce a given output) and output. Using more inputs than at the profit maximising level is in a sense waste. Inputs cost more than their additional revenues.


What is profit maximisation with quantities fixed, e.g. due to binding production quotas? 

If a quantity is fixed profit maximisation is nothing more than cost minimisation 


What happens if a firm is not a price taker anymore, i.e. it’s supplied quantity affects prices? 

 In that case the optimisation problem becomes more complicated. The firm should recognise that the prices change when it demands more inputs and supplied more outputs. Prices become functions of inputs demanded and output supplied. This can still be solved, but the solution will now imply optimal quantities and optimal prices, both to be chosen by the firm (Note: that maximum price is not the same as optimal price, see chapter 7). 

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What is the consequence of this property for the value of the marginal product (VMP)? 

If x increases the marginal product indeed decreases (is non-increasing). The consequence for the VMP is that it also decreases if more x is used

What does it mean – in words – that a supply function is homogenous of degree zero?

Supply does not change if output price and input price are multiplied with the same factor. A 
producer only reacts to changes in price ratio between output and input


 Why is quantity (L) in the profit function and why is the quantity of variable inputs (x) not in the profit function? 

In the profit function we only have exogenous variables, i.e. variables that are given to the producer. Land is exogenous in the model. In the short run, the producer can not affect its magnitude. The use of this quasi-fixed input is not affected by profit maximisation in the short run. Variable inputs are endogenous: their optimal quantities are determined within the model. The 
producer maximises its profits and chooses these inputs optimally. 

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