Can you think of any commodity on which the price ceiling is imposed in India? What may be the consequence of price-ceiling?
In India, there are many goods on which government has imposed price ceiling, in order to keep them available within the reach of the BPL (below poverty lime) people. These goods are kerosene, sugar, wheat, rice, etc. The following are the consequences of price ceiling:
1) Excess demand - Due to artificially imposed price, cutting lower than the equilibrium price leads to the emergence of the problem of excess demand.
2) Fixed Quota - Each consumer gets a fixed quantity of good (as per the quota). The quantity often falls short of meeting the individuals requirements. This further leads to the problem of shortage and the consumer remains unsatisfied.
3) Inferior goods - Often it has been found that the goods that are rationed are usually inferior goods and are adulterated.
4) Black marketing - The needs of a consumer remain unfulfilled as per the quota laid by the government. Consequently, some of the unsatisfied consumers get ready to pay higher price for the additional quantity. This leads to black-marketing and artificial shortage in the market.
How will a change in the price of coffee affect the equilibrium price of tea? Explain the effect on equilibrium quantity also through a diagram.
Suppose the price at which the equilibrium is attained in exercise 5 is above the minimum average cost of the firms constituting the market. Now if we allow for free entry and exit of firms, how will the market price adjust to it?
When do we say that there is an excess demand for a commodity in the market?
Suppose the market determined rent for apartments is too high for common people to afford. If the government comes forward to help those seeking apartments on rent by imposing control on rent, what impact will it have on the market for apartments?
Explain through a diagram the effect of a rightward shift of both the demand and supply curves on equilibrium price and quantity.
How are equilibrium price and quantity affected when income of the consumers
a) Increase
b) Decrease
Explain market equilibrium.
When do we say that there is an excess supply for a commodity in the market?
In what respect do the supply and demand curves in the labor market differ from those in the goods market?
Explain how price is determined in a perfectly competitive market with a fixed number of firms.
Explain the concept of a production function
What would be the shape of the demand curve so that the total revenue curve is?
(a) A positively sloped straight line passing through the origin?
(b) A horizontal line?
Discuss the central problems of an economy.
What are the characteristics of a perfectly competitive market?
What do you mean by the budget set of a consumer?
What is the total product of input?
From the schedule provided below calculate the total revenue, demand curve and the price elasticity of demand:
Quantity |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Marginal Revenue |
10 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
What do you mean by the production possibilities of an economy?
How are the total revenue of a firm, market price, and the quantity sold by the firm related to each other?
What is budget line?
What do the short-run marginal cost, average variable cost and short-run average cost curves look like?
What does the price elasticity of supply mean? How do we measure it?
There are three identical firms in a market. The following table shows the supply schedule of firm 1. Compute the market supply schedule.
Price (Rs.) | SS1 (units) |
---|---|
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 |
Why is the total revenue curve of a price-taking firm an upward-sloping straight line? Why does the curve pass through the origin?
Let the production function of a firm be Q=2 L2 K2Q=2 L2 K2
Find out the maximum possible output that the firm can produce with 5 units of LL and 2 units of KK. What is the maximum possible output that the firm can produce with zero units of LL and 10 units of KK?
Consider a market with two firms. In the following table, columns labelled as SS1 and SS2 give the supply schedules of firm 1 and firm 2 respectively. Compute the market supply schedule.
Price (Rs.) | SS1 (kg) | SS2 (kg) |
---|---|---|
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |
0 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
0 0 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 |
How does technological progress affect the supply curve of a firm?
The following table gives the average product schedule of labour. Find the total product and marginal product schedules. It is given that the total product is zero at zero level of labour employment.
What is the marginal product of an input?
The following table shows the total revenue and total cost schedules of a competitive firm. Calculate the profit at each output level. Determine also the market price of the good.
Quantity Sold | TR (Rs.) | TC (Rs.) | Profit |
---|---|---|---|
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 |
5 7 10 12 15 23 33 40 |