1. BAEB602
MICROECONOMICS
CHAPTER 5
COST PRODUCTION
PREPARED BY:
Nur Suhaili Ramli
School of Marketing and
Entrepreneurship (SoME)
FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
2. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
The Meaning of Costs
TOPIC
Opportunity costs
meaning of opportunity cost
examples
Measuring a firm’s opportunity costs
factors not owned by the firm: explicit costs
factors already owned by the firm: implicit costs
irrelevance of:
historic costs
replacement costs
Slide 2 of 17
3. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Short run
TOPIC
Production functions
factors of production
labour
land and raw materials
capital
entrepreneurship
the relationship between inputs and output
TPP = ƒ(F1, F2, F3, … Fn)
Slide 3 of 17
4. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Short run
TOPIC
Long-run and short-run production
fixed and variable factors
distinction between short run and long run
The law of diminishing returns
The short-run production function:
total physical product (TPP)
average physical product (APP)
marginal physical product (MPP)
the graphical relationship between TPP, APP and MPP
Slide 4 of 17
5. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Short run
TOPIC
Costs and inputs
costs and the productivity of factors
costs and the price of factors
Fixed costs and variable costs
Total costs
total fixed cost (TFC)
total variable cost (TVC)
TVC and the law of diminishing returns
total cost (TC = TFC + TVC)
Slide 5 of 17
6. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Short run
TOPIC
Marginal cost
marginal cost (MC) and the law of diminishing returns
Slide 6 of 17
7. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Short run
TOPIC
Marginal cost
marginal cost (MC) and the law of diminishing returns
the relationship between MC and TC curves
Slide 7 of 17
8. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Short run
TOPIC
Average cost
average fixed cost (AFC)
average variable cost (AVC)
average (total) cost (AC)
Relationship between average and marginal cost
Slide 8 of 17
9. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Long run
TOPIC
All factors variable in long run
The scale of production:
constant returns to scale
increasing returns to scale
decreasing returns to scale
Returns to scale and economies and diseconomies of scale
Slide 9 of 17
10. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Long run
TOPIC
Economies of scale
specialisation & division of labour
indivisibilities
container principle
greater efficiency of large machines
by-products
multi-stage production
organisational & administrative economies
financial economies
Economies of scope
Slide 10 of 17
11. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Long run
TOPIC
Diseconomies of scale
managerial diseconomies
effects of workers and industrial relations
risks of interdependencies
External economies of scale
External diseconomies of scale
Location
balancing the distance from suppliers and consumers
importance of transport costs
Slide 11 of 17
12. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Production in the Long run
TOPIC
Optimum combination of factors
MPPa/Pa = MPPb/Pb ... = MPPn/Pn
Decision making in different time periods
very short run
short run
long run
very long run
decisions can be made for all time periods at the same time
Slide 12 of 17
13. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Slide 13 of 17
14. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Slide 14 of 17
15. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Relationship between long-run and short-run average costs
Slide 15 of 17
16. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Relationship between long-run and short-run average costs
the envelope curve
Slide 16 of 17
17. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Relationship between long-run and short-run average costs
the envelope curve
Long-run cost curves in practice
Slide 17 of 17
18. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Relationship between long-run and short-run average costs
the envelope curve
Long-run cost curves in practice
the evidence
Slide 18 of 17
19. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Costs in the Long run
TOPIC
Long-run average costs
shape of the LRAC curve
assumptions behind the curve
Long-run marginal costs
Relationship between long-run and short-run average costs
the envelope curve
Long-run cost curves in practice
the evidence
minimum efficient plant size
Slide 19 of 17
20. CHAPTER 5: COST PRODUCTION
Class Activity
TOPIC
Before leaving the class, you should submit the following:
Identify the following
Short run
Long run
Total cost
Total average cost
Name, ID, classcode
Slide 20 of 17