Question 1

An oligopolist will increase production if the output effect is

Accepted Answer

A) less than the price effect. 
B) equal to the price effect. 
C) greater than the price effect. 
D) The oligopolist never has an incentive to increase production.

Question 2

Suppose that Bieber and Rihanna are duopolists in the music industry. In May, they agree to work together as a monopolist, charging the monopoly price for their music and producing the monopoly quantity of songs. By June, each singer is considering breaking the agreement. What would you expect to happen next?

Accepted Answer

A) Bieber and Rihanna will determine that it is in each singer's self interest to maintain the agreement. 
B) Bieber and Rihanna will each break the agreement. Both singers' profits will decrease. 
C) Bieber and Rihanna will each break the agreement. Both singers' profits will increase. 
D) Bieber and Rihanna will each break the agreement. The new equilibrium quantity of songs will increase, and the new equilibrium price also will increase.

Question 3

Table 17-12
The table shows the town of Driveaway's demand schedule for gasoline. Assume the town's gasoline seller(s) incurs a cost of $2 for each gallon sold, with no fixed cost. 
-Refer to Table 17-12. Suppose there are exactly two sellers of gasoline in Driveaway: Amogo and Spilmerica. If Amogo sells 150 gallons and Spilmerica sells 100 gallons, then

Accepted Answer

A) Amogo's profit is $150 and Spilmerica's profit is $100. 
B) Amogo's profit is $100 and Spilmerica's profit is $66.67. 
C) Amogo's profit is $75 and Spilmerica's profit is $50. 
D) there is an excess supply of gasoline in Driveaway.

Question 4

Table 17-27
Each year the United States considers renewal of Most Favored Nation (MFN) trading status with Farland (a mythical nation). Historically, legislators have made threats of not renewing MFN status because of human rights abuses in Farland. The non-renewal of MFN trading status is likely to involve some retaliatory measures by Farland. The payoff table below shows the potential economic gains associated with a game in which Farland may impose trade sanctions against U.S. firms and the United States may not renew MFN status with Farland. The table contains the dollar value of all trade-flow benefits to the United States and Farland. 
-Refer to Table 17-27. If both countries follow a dominant strategy, the value of trade flow benefits for Farland will be

Accepted Answer

A)  $5 b. 
B)  $75 b. 
C)  $275 b. 
D)  $285 b.

Question 5

Table 17-1
Imagine a small town in which only two residents, Rochelle and Alec, own wells that produce safe drinking water. Each week Rochelle and Alec work together to decide how many gallons of water to pump. They bring the water to town and sell it at whatever price the market will bear. To keep things simple, suppose that Rochelle and Alec can pump as much water as they want without cost so that the marginal cost of water equals zero. The town's weekly demand schedule and total revenue schedule for water is shown in the table below: 
-Refer to Table 17-1. If this market for water were perfectly competitive instead of monopolistic, what price would be charged?

Accepted Answer

A) $0 
B) $30 
C) $40 
D) $60

Question 6

Scenario 17-2.
​
Imagine that two oil companies, BQ and Exxoff, own adjacent oil fields. Under the fields is a common pool of oil worth $144 million. Drilling a well to recover oil costs $5 million per well. If each company drills one well, each will get half of the oil and earn a $67 million profit ($72 million in revenue - $5 million in costs). Assume that having X percent of the total wells means that a company will collect X percent of the total revenue.
-Refer to Scenario 17-2. If BQ were to drill a second well, what would its profit be if Exxoff did not drill a second well?

Accepted Answer

A) $43 million 
B) $67 million 
C) $86 million 
D) $129 million

Question 7

In the prisoners' dilemma game, self-interest leads

Accepted Answer

A) each prisoner to confess. 
B) to a breakdown of any agreement that the prisoners might have made before being questioned. 
C) to an outcome that is not particularly good for either prisoner. 
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 8

A group of firms that collude is called a cartel.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

Assume that Samorola has entered into an enforceable resale price maintenance agreement with Trint and U-Mobile. Which of the following will always be true?

Accepted Answer

A) The wholesale price of Samorolas will be different for Trint than it is for U-Mobile. 
B) U-Mobile will benefit from customers who go to Trint for information about different mobile phones. 
C) Trint will sell Samorolas at a lower price than U-Mobile. 
D) U-Mobile and Trint will always sell Samorolas for exactly the same price.

Question 10

Suppose three firms form a cartel and agree to charge a specific price for their output. Each individual firm has an incentive to maintain the agreement because the firm's individual profits will be the greatest under the cartel arrangement.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Table 17-19
Consider a small town that has two grocery stores from which residents can choose to buy a loaf of bread. The store owners each must make a decision to set a high bread price or a low bread price. The payoff table, showing profit per week, is provided below. The profit in each cell is shown as (Store 1, Store 2). 
-Refer to Table 17-19. If grocery store 2 sets a high price, what price should grocery store 1 set? And what will grocery store 1's payoff equal?

Accepted Answer

A) Low price, $400 
B) High price, $325 
C) Low price, $50 
D) High price, $400

Question 12

Which of the following statements is false?

Accepted Answer

A) The Clayton Act allows triple damages in civil lawsuits in order to encourage lawsuits against conspiring oligopolists. 
B) Many economists defend the practice of resale price maintenance on the grounds that it may help solve a free-rider problem. 
C) Most economists agree that predatory pricing is a profitable business strategy that usually preserves market power. 
D) The U.S. Supreme Court's view that the practice of tying usually allows a firm to extend its market power is not generally supported by economic theory.

Question 13

Scenario 17-2.
​
Imagine that two oil companies, BQ and Exxoff, own adjacent oil fields. Under the fields is a common pool of oil worth $144 million. Drilling a well to recover oil costs $5 million per well. If each company drills one well, each will get half of the oil and earn a $67 million profit ($72 million in revenue - $5 million in costs). Assume that having X percent of the total wells means that a company will collect X percent of the total revenue.
-Refer to Scenario 17-2. If each firm is permitted to drill two wells at most, the firms are in a Nash equilibrium when

Accepted Answer

A) BQ drills one well and Exxoff drills two wells. 
B) BQ drills two wells and Exxoff drills one well. 
C) both firms drill one well. 
D) both firms drill two wells.

Question 14

Table 17-21
The Chicken Game is named for a contest in which drivers test their courage by driving straight at each other. John and Paul have a common interest to avoid crashing into each other, but they also have a personal, competing interest to not turn first to demonstrate their courage to those observing the contest. The payoff table for this situation is provided below. The payoffs are shown as (John, Paul). 
-Refer to Table 17-21. How many Nash equilibria are there in this Chicken game?

Accepted Answer

A) 0 
B) 1 
C) 2 
D) 3

Question 15

Table 17-21
The Chicken Game is named for a contest in which drivers test their courage by driving straight at each other. John and Paul have a common interest to avoid crashing into each other, but they also have a personal, competing interest to not turn first to demonstrate their courage to those observing the contest. The payoff table for this situation is provided below. The payoffs are shown as (John, Paul). 
-Refer to Table 17-21. What is John's dominant strategy?

Accepted Answer

A) John has no dominant strategy. 
B) John should always choose Turn. 
C) John should always choose Drive Straight. 
D) John has two dominant strategies.

Question 16

The prisoners' dilemma game

Accepted Answer

A) is a situation in which two players both have dominant strategies which lead to the highest total payoff for the two players. 
B) has no Nash equilibrium since players, after agreeing to play their dominant strategy, will have an incentive to switch to another strategy. 
C) has a Nash equilibrium, but the Nash equilibrium outcome is not the outcome the players would agree to if they could cooperate with each other. 
D) Both a and c are correct.

Question 17

Table 17-29
Suppose that two firms, Wild Willy's Wonderdrink (Firm W) and Hyper Hank's Hydration (Firm H), comprise the market for energy drinks. Each firm determines that it could lower its costs and increase its profits if both firms reduced their advertising budgets. But for the plan to work, each firm must agree to refrain from advertising. Each firm believes that advertising works by increasing the demand for the firm's energy drinks, but each firm also believes that if neither firm advertises, the cost savings will outweigh the lost sales. The table below lists each firm's individual profits:
Firm W
Breaks agreement Maintains agreement
and advertises and does not advertise 
-Refer to Table 17-29. Which of the following statements does not correctly characterize the outcome of this game?

Accepted Answer

A) There is a Nash equilibrium. 
B) Only one firm has a dominant strategy. 
C) The game is an example of the Prisoners' Dilemma. 
D) Both firms collectively would earn the highest joint profits by maintaining the agreement not to advertise.

Question 18

The Clayton Act of 1914 allows those harmed by illegal arrangements to restrain trade to

Accepted Answer

A) sue for up to two times the damages they incurred. 
B) sue for up to three times the damages they incurred. 
C) sue for up to four times the damages they incurred. 
D) sue for damages, but only for the actual amount of damages they incurred.

Question 19

Explain the practice of resale price maintenance and discuss why it is controversial.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the practice of resale price maintenance...

Question 20

In a prisoner's dilemma situation where firms are setting prices, the dominant strategy is always to charge the price that leads to maximum profits for all firms.
​

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Exam 17: Oligopoly

An oligopolist will increase production if the output effect is

In the prisoners' dilemma game, self-interest leads

A group of firms that collude is called a cartel.

Assume that Samorola has entered into an enforceable resale price maintenance agreement with Trint and U-Mobile. Which of the following will always be true?

Suppose three firms form a cartel and agree to charge a specific price for their output. Each individual firm has an incentive to maintain the agreement because the firm's individual profits will be the greatest under the cartel arrangement.

Which of the following statements is false?

The prisoners' dilemma game

The Clayton Act of 1914 allows those harmed by illegal arrangements to restrain trade to

Explain the practice of resale price maintenance and discuss why it is controversial.

In a prisoner's dilemma situation where firms are setting prices, the dominant strategy is always to charge the price that leads to maximum profits for all firms. ​

In a prisoner's dilemma situation where firms are setting prices, the dominant strategy is always to charge the price that leads to maximum profits for all firms.