- CFA Exams
- CFA Level I Exam
- Topic 2. Economics
- Learning Module 1. The Firm and Market Structures
- Subject 8. Oligopoly
CFA Practice Question
Which of the following relationships is (are) true in an oligopolistic market with collusion?
II. For a firm, marginal revenue = price
III. For the cartel, marginal revenue = marginal cost
I. For a firm, marginal revenue = marginal cost
II. For a firm, marginal revenue = price
III. For the cartel, marginal revenue = marginal cost
A. I & III
B. III only
C. II & III
Explanation: When there is collusion, the cartel is effectively a monopoly in the market. A monopolistic firm will try to maximize profits and the relationship "marginal revenue = marginal cost" always holds when you maximize profits. Thus, for the cartel, marginal revenue will equal marginal cost. This, however, does not mean that each individual firm is maximizing its profits. In fact, each is producing at a level that is lower than the profit-maximizing level and has a strong incentive to increase output if it could prevent others from doing so at the same time.
User Contributed Comments 7
User | Comment |
---|---|
keithinny | why is II not true ? |
eddeb | II holds for price takers, not searchers |
DannyZhou | Unclear, if collusion is taking place, for each firm, MR=MC as well. ??? |
johnj | mr = mc to get optimum quantity, not MR=Price as in choice II. |
boddunah | collusion happens when cartel forms.think "cartel" is key here. |
nzohoury | @DannyZhou if for each firm MR=MC then there would be no need to collude since both firms would be in profit maximizing equilibrium. The fact that they are colluding suggests that they would rather operate below maximum profit than compete and get to P point less than MR. |
Frank1 | thanks nzohoury. Very clear. |