Answered step by step
Verified Expert Solution
Question
1 Approved Answer
Consider a town in which only two residents, James and Amber, own wells that produce water safe for drinking. James and Amber can pump and
Consider a town in which only two residents, James and Amber, own wells that produce water safe for drinking. James and Amber can pump and sell as much water as they want at no cost For them, total revenue equals profit. The following table shows the town's demand schedule for water.
Price
Quantity Demanded
Total Revenue
Dollars per gallon
Gallons of water
Dollars
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Suppose James and Amber form a cartel and behave as a monopolist. The profitmaximizing price is
$
per gallon, and the total output is
gallons. As part of their cartel agreement, James and Amber agree to split production equally. Therefore, James's profit is
$
and Amber's profit is
$
Suppose that James and Amber have been successfully operating as a cartel. They each charge the monopoly price and sell half of the monopoly quantity. Then one night before going to sleep, James says to himself, "Amber and I aren't the best of friends anyway. If I increase my production to gallons more than the cartel amount, I can increase my profit even though her profit goes down. I will do that starting tomorrow."
After James implements his new plan, the price of water to
$
per gallon. Given Amber and James's production levels, James's profit becomes
$
and Amber's profit becomes
$
Because James has deviated from the cartel agreement and increased his output of water to gallons more than the cartel amount, Amber decides that she will also increase her production to gallons more than the cartel amount.
After Amber increases her production, James's profit becomes
$
Amber's profit becomes
$
and total profit the sum of the profits of James and Amber is now
$
True or False: Based on the fact that both James and Amber increased production from the initial cartel quantity, you know that the output effect was larger than the price effect at that quantity.
True
False
Note that James and Amber started by behaving cooperatively. However, once James decided to cheat, Amber decided to cheat as well. In other words, Amber's output decisions are based on James's actions.
This behavior is an example of
Step by Step Solution
There are 3 Steps involved in it
Step: 1
Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions
See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success
Step: 2
Step: 3
Ace Your Homework with AI
Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance
Get Started