The cost of a new smart phone is in the research

Question # 00558384 Posted By: dr.tony Updated on: 07/08/2017 08:44 AM Due on: 07/08/2017
Subject Economics Topic Microeconomics Tutorials:
Question
Dot Image
3) Long-run competition. Much of the cost of a new smart phone is in the research and development and in building manufacturing facilities. By contrast, the marginal cost of producing another phone is relatively low.

a) You have been hired by Apple to recommend pricing and marketing strategies for their next phone. On one graph: draw a hypothetical Average Total Cost (ATC) curve, the Marginal Cost curve, and a Demand (MU) curve for iPhones. (Hint: The point where Demand intersects MC should be below the ATC curve.)

b) Show the area of net profit (or loss) under perfect competition as the difference between average total cost and the average revenue (or the price). (Note that profit is the number of phones sold times the price minus ATC.) What will happen to the industry and the number of companies under competitive conditions? Why?

c) Duplicate the ATC, MC, & MU graph from part b, but this time, show what happens if they can charge a monopoly price. Show the area of net profit as the difference between average total cost and the price multiplied by the number of phones sold (Profit = (P – ATC)*Q). How does this change consumer, producer, and total surplus?

4) Insurance and social policy. You have been hired by an insurance company to help them launch a new product which would pay for long-term care in a nursing home for people at an average cost of $150,000/year. Among 90% of the population, there is a 1% chance of going into a nursing home in the next year but for 10% of the population, people with chronic conditions or over age 80, there is a 10% chance of going into a home. Assume that people live two years, the current year and the next, and you buy the policy this year and either use it or not next year.
a) If you were able to sell this to the entire population, what is the fair market value of this policy? (That is to say, what is the expected value of the policy to the average person?) What is the fair market price if you marketed the policy exclusively to people with chronic conditions and those over age 80.
b) Who would you expect would buy your policy if you offered it at the fair market price for the whole population? Will you be able to make profits offering it at this price to anyone who wants the policy?
c) What alternative strategies could you offer the company to make profits selling long-term insurance market? Think about moral hazard and adverse selection and how these affect your markets. Would you expect markets with moral hazard and adverse selection to provide the optimal amount of long-term care insurance at an efficient price?
Dot Image
Tutorials for this Question
  1. Tutorial # 00555865 Posted By: dr.tony Posted on: 07/08/2017 08:45 AM
    Puchased By: 2
    Tutorial Preview
    The solution of The cost of a new smart phone is in the research...
    Attachments
    The_cost_of_a_new_smart_phone_is_in_the_research.ZIP (18.96 KB)

Great! We have found the solution of this question!

Whatsapp Lisa