Managerial Economics

ninth edition

Thomas Maurice

Chapter 1
Managers, Profits, and Markets
McGraw-Hill/Irwin McGraw-Hill/Irwin Managerial Economics, 9e Managerial Economics, 9e
Copyright 2008 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Managerial Economics

Managerial Economics & Theory

Managerial economics applies microeconomic theory to business problems
How to use economic analysis to make decisions to achieve firms goal of profit maximization

Microeconomics
Study of behavior of individual economic agents
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Economic Cost of Resources

Opportunity cost of using any resource is:

What firm owners must give up to use the resource Owned by others & hired, rented, or leased Owned & used by the firm

Market-supplied resources Owner-supplied resources

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Total Economic Cost

Total Economic Cost
Sum of opportunity costs of both market-supplied resources & ownersupplied resources
Monetary payments to owners of market-supplied resources Nonmonetary opportunity costs of using owner-supplied resources

Explicit Costs Implicit Costs

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Economic Cost of Using Resources (Figure 1.1)

E x p l i c i t C o s t s
o f M a r k e t S u p p l i e d R e s o u r c e s T h e m o n e t a r y p a y m e n t s t o r e s o u r c e o w n e r s

+
I m p l i c i t C o s t s
o f O w n e r S u p p l i e d R e s o u r c e s T h e r e t u r n s f o r g o n e b y n o tt a k i n g t h e o w n e r s r e s o u r c e s t o m a r k e t

=
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T o t a lE c o n o m i c C o s t
T h e t o t a lo p p o r t u n i t y c o s t s o f b o t h k i n d s o fr e s o u r c e s

Managerial Economics

Types of Implicit Costs

Opportunity cost of cash provided by owners
Equity capital

Opportunity cost of using land or capital owned by the firm Opportunity cost of owners time spent managing or working for the firm
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Economic Profit versus Accounting Profit

Economic profit = Total revenue Total economic cost = Total revenue Explicit costs Implicit costs Accounting profit = Total revenue Explicit costs

Accounting profit does not subtract implicit costs from total revenue Firm owners must cover all costs of all resources used by the firm
Objective is to maximize economic profit
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Maximizing the Value of a Firm

Value of a firm
Price for which it can be sold Equal to net present value of expected future profit
Accounts for risk of not knowing future profits The larger the rise, the higher the risk premium, & the lower the firms value

Risk premium

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Maximizing the Value of a Firm

Maximize firms value by maximizing profit in each time period
Cost & revenue conditions must be independent across time periods

Value of a firm =

(1 r )
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(1 r )

...

T
(1 r )
T

t 1

t
(1 r )
t

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Separation of Ownership & Control

Principal-agent problem
Conflict that arises when goals of management (agent) do not match goals of owner (principal)

Moral Hazard
When either party to an agreement has incentive not to abide by all its provisions & one party cannot cost effectively monitor the agreement
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Corporate Control Mechanisms

Require managers to hold stipulated amount of firms equity Increase percentage of outsiders serving on board of directors Finance corporate investments with debt instead of equity

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Price-Takers vs. Price-Setters

Price-taking firm
Cannot set price of its product Price is determined strictly by market forces of demand & supply

Price-setting firm
Can set price of its product Has a degree of market power, which is ability to raise price without losing all sales
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What is a Market?
A market is any arrangement through which buyers & sellers exchange goods & services Markets reduce transaction costs
Costs of making a transaction other than the price of the good or service

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Market Structures
Market characteristics that determine the economic environment in which a firm operates
Number & size of firms in market Degree of product differentiation Likelihood of new firms entering market

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Perfect Competition
Large number of relatively small firms Undifferentiated product No barriers to entry

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Monopoly
Single firm Produces product with no close substitutes Protected by a barrier to entry

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Monopolistic Competition
Large number of relatively small firms Differentiated products No barriers to entry

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Oligopoly
Few firms produce all or most of market output Profits are interdependent
Actions by any one firm will affect sales & profits of the other firms

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Globalization of Markets
Economic integration of markets located in nations around the world
Provides opportunity to sell more goods & services to foreign buyers Presents threat of increased competition from foreign producers

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