Economics Homework 5 Questions.

Introduction

These scenarios will give you practice applying concepts from the readings to models of real-world situations.

Activity Instructions

Read the following scenarios and complete the corresponding questions. Please remember to answer in complete and grammatically correct sentences.  I am looking for your thought process in the answers to the questions, so be complete in your answers and use the opportunity to clearly demonstrate your newly acquired knowledge.

Scenario 1 (length: as needed)

A cupcake store is located in a mall and is the only cupcake store in that mall.  The demand schedule for cupcakes (per dozen) is given in the table below.  If the marginal cost to produce a dozen cupcakes is $4 per unit, how many units should the firm produce?

Price	Quantity Purchased
	(Dozen per day)
$12	3
$11	7
$10	12
$9	20
$8	35
$7	60
$6	100
$5	160
$4	250

 

1. What price should the cupcake store charge?
2. If the fixed cost for the firm is $100 per day, how much profit will the firm make in one day?
3. What is the price elasticity of demand at the optimal price/quantity combination (use the next lower price level as the second point in your calculation)?
4. Is the formula for finding the correct level of output on the bottom of page 65 in your text satisfied?

Scenario 2 (length: as needed)

A restaurant/bar is analyzing its pricing of beer. It has determined that the price elasticity of demand for beer is −0.8; the cross-price elasticity for wine with respect to the price of beer is 0.9; the cross-price elasticity for appetizers is -1.4; and the cross-price elasticity for entrees is -2.2. The current average price of a beer at this bar is $4.50, and the restaurant sells 250 pints of beer a night. The price of wine averages $8 a glass, and on a typical night 40 glasses of wine are purchased. An appetizer is priced at an average price of $6, and an entree costs $12 on average. The average number of appetizers and entrees sold per night is 70 and 25, respectively. The marginal cost of a pint of beer is $2; an additional glass of wine sold increases costs by $5; an appetizer increases costs by $4; and an entree has a marginal cost of $7. The restaurant is considering lowering the price of beer to $4.

1. What is the restaurant’s profit (prior to the price change)?
2. Using the midpoint formula at the bottom of page 64, by what percent would the price of beer change? Using the price elasticity of demand and the approximation for the change in quantity on page 67, how many pints of beer would the restaurant sell after the price change?
3. Using the price change of beer and the cross-price elasticities, how many glasses of wine, appetizers, and entrees would the restaurant sell after the price change of beer?
4. What would the profit of the restaurant be after the price change?
5. Should the restaurant lower the price of beer to $4 based on your analysis?

Scenario 3 (length: as needed)

In “Kitchen Nightmares,” Chef Gordon Ramsay visits struggling restaurants and gives the owners of the restaurant a number of recommendations intended to reverse the restaurant’s prospects. One suggestion Chef Ramsay commonly makes is to reduce the size of the restaurant’s menu and concentrate on a smaller number of offerings. Our textbook has several theories that can be used to explain how that recommendation can reduce costs.

1. Explain how the recommendation is an application of Economies and Diseconomies of Scope.
2. Explain how the Learning Curve concept also would suggest a smaller menu would lead to a cost reduction.

Scenario 4 (length: as needed)

Consider the market for corn in the United States. Suppose that the mandated percentage of ethanol in gasoline is increased and at the same time a corn blight destroys a significant portion of the corn crop.

1. Using a supply and demand diagram, show what happens to the equilibrium quantity and price of corn in the United States.
2. Explain why you are moving the curve(s) that you are?
3. Using a supply and demand diagram, show how the changes in the corn market would affect the market for wheat (a substitute for corn).

Scenario 5 (length: one paragraph)

Review the following resources:

• Website: S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index (SPCS20RSA)
• Website: New One Family Houses Sold: United States (HSN1F)

During the housing crash in 2008, housing prices fell, and the number of new houses sold in the United States also fell. The link to “New One Family Houses Sold” does not include existing house sales, but assume that existing house sales fell as well. Using the supply and demand analysis described in the text starting on page 92, would the observations of the housing market be explained by a shift of the demand curve, the supply curve, or both? Would the demand and supply increase, decrease or remain the same?

Writing Requirements

• Length: as needed (Show your calculations where appropriate.)
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font