平狄克微观经济学笔记 (8).doc

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1、CHAPTER8PROFITMAXIMIZATIONANDCOMPETITIVESUPPLYTEACHINGNOTESThischapteridentifiesthebehavioralincentivesoftheprofit-maximizingfirmandthenexplorestheinteractionofthesefirmsinacompetitivemarket.Eachsectionofthechapterisimportantandbuildsasolidunderstandingofthesupplysideofthecompetitivemarket.Iti

2、snecessarytobuildthisfoundationbeforemovingontothechaptersinpartIIIofthetext.Whilethematerialinthechapteriswritteninaveryclear,easytounderstandmanner,studentsstillstrugglewithmanyoftheconceptsrelatedtohowthefirmshouldchoosetheoptimalquantitytoproduce,andhowtoapplythecostcurvediagramlearnedinth

3、epreviouschapter.Oneoptionforlectureistospendtimeworkingwithatablesimilartotheoneusedintheexercisesattheendofthechapter.Workingthroughmanyexampleswiththistypeofatablecanhelpthestudentsunderstandthedifferenttypesofcost,aswellasthefirm’soptimallevelofproduction.Section8.1identifiesthethreebasica

4、ssumptionsofperfectcompetitionandsection8.2discussestheassumptionofprofitmaximizationasthegoalofthefirm.Bothsectionsareimportantinbuildingthefoundationforderivingthefirm’ssupplycurve,whichisdoneinsections8.3to8.5.Section8.3derivesthegeneralresultthatthefirmshouldproducewheremarginalrevenueiseq

5、ualtomarginalcost.Thesectionthengoesontoidentifyperfectcompetitionasaspecialcasewherepriceisequaltomarginalrevenue,whichfollowsdirectlyfromtheassumptionofpricetakerbehaviorinsection8.1.Ifyourstudentshavehadcalculus,itishelpfultoderivethemarginalrevenueequalsmarginalcostrulebydifferentiatingthe

6、profitfunctionwithrespecttoq.Ifyourstudentshavenothadcalculusthenitishelpfultodosomemoreworkwiththedatatablessotheyunderstandthatprofitismaximizedwhenmarginalrevenueequalsmarginalcost.Emphasizethattheperfectlycompetitivefirmchoosesquantityandnotpriceinordertomaximizeprofit.Toputperfectcompetit

7、ioninperspective,itcanalsobehelpfultogiveabriefoverviewofmonopoly,oligopoly,andmonopolisticcompetitionbeforepresentingtheassumptionsofperfectcompetition.Restrictthisdiscussiontoidentifyinghowmanyfirmsareintheindustry,iftherearebarrierst