Exam 15: Technology, Rd, and Efficiency

Assume a firm faces these costs: total cost of capital = $4,000; price paid for labor = $20 per labor unit; and price paid for raw materials = $8 per raw-material unit. Originally the firm produced 2,000 units of output by combining its fixed capital with 200 units of labor and 500 units of raw materials. Now the firm changes its production process so that it can produce 3,000 units of output by combining its fixed capital with 100 units of labor and 500 units of raw materials. What happened to average total cost?

When a dominant firm quickly copies the new product innovation of a smaller firm so that it is the next firm to make the innovation, it is following a

Fast-second strategies are more likely to be used by

U.S. firms collectively devote the largest portion of their total R&D spending to

In the 1800s, railroads broke up the monopoly position of wagons, ships, and barges as the major means of transporting goods. This would be an example of

The first successful commercial introduction of a new product is called

Technological advance improves allocative efficiency by

Which of the following programs receives the smallest share of total Federal spending?

About percent of business R&D spending is for basic research.

In the inverted-U theory of R&D, which of the following industry concentration ratios would be most conducive to R&D (as a percentage of firm sales)?

Which of the following correctly orders, highest to lowest, the relative magnitudes of U.S. spending by businesses on components of R&D?

Which market structure has a strong incentive for product development and differentiation?

Even where imitation is possible, a firm may gain advantage from being the first to introduce an innovative product because of

A common way by which governments encourage invention is by providing the inventor with a

Assume a firm faces these costs: total cost of capital = $4,000; price paid for labor = $20 per labor unit; and price paid for raw materials = $8 per raw-material unit. If the firm can produce 2,000 units of output by combining its fixed capital with 200 units of labor and 500 units of raw materials, what are the total cost (TC) and average total cost (ATC) of producing the 2,000 units of output?

Process innovation raises the firm's total product curve and lowers its average total cost curve.

Why is the percentage of business research and development spending for basic research so small?

The discovery of a product or process through the use of imagination, ingenious thinking, and experimentation is

The legal protection for publishers of books, computer software, movies, videos, and musical compositions from having their works used or copied by others without their permission is a

The legal protection that gives the original innovators of products the exclusive right to use a particular product name is a