Page 1 of 18 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Economics 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics Exam 2 Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 Last Name (Please print): ______________ First Name: __________________ MIT ID Number: __________________ Instructions. Please read carefully. The exam has a total of 100 points. Answers should be as concise as possible. This is a closed book exam. You are not allowed to use notes, equation sheets, books or any other aids. You are not allowed to use calculators. You must write your answers in the space provided between questions. DO NOT attach additional sheets of paper. This exam consists of (18) sheets (13 pages + 5 blank pages for scratch work). 0. Circle Your Section/Recitation (1 point): Please circle the section or recitation which you are attending below. The marked exam will be returned to you, in the section or recitation that you indicate. You will loose 1 point if you leave it unselected. S01: MWF9 (Peter Schnabl) R01: F10 (Rongzhu Ke) S02: MWF10 (Chia-Hui Chen) R02: F11 (Rongzhu Ke) S03: MWF11 (Chia-Hui Chen) R03: F2 (Rongzhu Ke) S04: MWF1 (Monica Martinez-Bravo) R04: F12 (Marco Migueis) R05: F1 (Marco Migueis) R06: F2 (Marco Migueis) DO NOT WRITE IN THE AREA BELOW: Question 1 __/20 Question 2 __/15 Question 3 __/10 Question 4 __/24 Question 5 __/15 Question 6 __/15 Question 0 _/1 Total __/100 Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 2 of 18 1. True/False Questions (TOTAL: 20 points): In this section, write whether each statement is True or False. Please fully explain your answer, using a diagram if appropriate. No credit will be given for an answer without an explanation. (a) (5 points) As long as the marginal cost of production is greater than the average variable cost, the average variable cost is increasing. (b) (5 points) In a perfectly competitive market with constant long run marginal cost, the consumer will bear all the taxation burden. Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 3 of 18 (c) (5 points) In a perfectly competitive market, firms take the market price as a given, which implies that the market demand is infinitely elastic. (d) (5 points) In an exchange economy, no individual will ever prefer a point inside the utility possibilities frontier to a point on the utility possibilities frontier. Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 4 of 18 Long Questions: 2. (15 points) Ricardo produces widgets, using as inputs labor (L) and machines (K). His production function is given by the following equation: q = 10K2/3 + L1/2 (a) (4 points) What type of returns to scale (increasing/constant/decreasing) does Ricardo’s production function exhibit? Explain. At the end of last year, Ricardo bought his only machine for $1,000. He will use this machine for 5 years, after which the machine will have no value. Ricardo will calculate depreciation linearly (depreciation will be 20% of the total value of the machine per year). This machine has no other use besides Ricardo’s production of widgets, and, at this moment, Ricardo cannot buy any more machines. (b) (4 points) What is Ricardo’s annual fixed cost of production? Is the fixed cost sunk or not? Explain. Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 5 of 18 (c) (4 points) What is Ricardo’s demand for labor as a function of the quantity he wants to produce annually? (d) (3 points) Assuming that wage equals 1, what is Ricardo’s annual total cost function? Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 6 of 18 3. (10 points) Sally’s firm produces granola bars with a fixed cost of 10 (this cost is already sunk). Her variable cost function is VC = q2 + 2q. (a) (4 points) Assuming the market for granola bars is competitive, derive Sally’s supply function? (b) (6 points) What is Sally’s surplus if the market price is 6? What is her profit? Does she want to stay in this market? Explain. Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics, Fall 2007. MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downloaded on [DD Month YYYY].Page 7 of 18 4. (24 points) Suppose the demand function for corn is Qd = 10 − 2 p , and supply function isQs= 3p − 5 . The government is concerned that the market equilibrium price of corn is too low and would like to implement a price support policy to protect the farmers. By implementing the price support policy, the government sets a support price and purchases the extra supply at the support price. In this case, the government sets the support price ps = 4. (a) (4 points) Calculate the original market equilibrium price and quantity in absence of the price support policy. (b) (3 points) At the support price ps = 4 , find the quantity supplied by the farmers, the quantity demanded by the market, and the quantity purchased by the government. Cite as: William Wheaton, Chia-Hui Chen, Rongzhu Ke, Monica Martinez-Bravo, Marco Migueis, Peter Schnabl, and Hongliang Zhang, course materials for 14.01 Principles of