Cost Practice
Cost Practice
1) In 1985, Alice paid $20,000 for an option to purchase ten acres of land. By paying the $20,000, she bought the
right to buy the land for $100,000 in 1992. When she acquired the option in 1985, the land was worth $120,000.
In 1992, it is worth $110,000. Should Alice exercise the option and pay $100,000 for the land?
A) No
B) Yes
C) It depends on what the rate of inflation was between 1985 and 1992.
D) It depends on what the rate of interest was.
2) Farmer Jones bought his farm for $75,000 in 1975. Today the farm is worth $500,000, and the interest rate is 10
percent. ABC Corporation has offered to buy the farm today for $500,000 and XYZ Corporation has offered to
buy the farm for $530,000 one year from now. Farmer Jones could earn net profit of $15,000 (over and above all
of his expenses) if he farms the land this year. What should he do?
A) Farm the land for another year and sell to XYZ Corporation.
B) Reject both offers.
C) Sell to ABC Corporation.
D) Accept either offer as they are equivalent.
3) Which of the following statements demonstrates an understanding of the importance of sunk costs for decision
making?
I. "Even though I hate my MBA classes, I can't quit because I've spent so much money on tuition."
II. "To break into the market for soap our firm needs to spend $10M on creating an image that is unique to our
new product. When deciding whether to develop the new soap, we need to take this marketing cost into
account."
A) I only B) II only C) Both I and II D) Neither I nor II
1
6) Complete the following table:
(2) Determine the quantity that minimizes average total cost. Demonstrate that the predicted relationship
between marginal cost and average cost holds.
2
Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED1
1) B
2) C
3) B
4) B
5) Total Variable Fixed Marginal
Output Cost Cost Cost Cost
0 50 0 50 -
1 60 10 50 10
2 75 25 50 15
3 100 50 50 25
4 150 100 50 50
5 225 175 50 75
6 400 350 50 175
b.
4000
AFC =
Q
c.
TVC = TC - TFC
TVC = 5Q + 10Q2
d.
TVC 5Q + 10Q2
AVC = = = 5 + 10Q
Q Q
e.
TC 4000 + 5Q + 10Q2
ATC = =
Q Q
f.
MC = 5 + 20Q
PART (2)
ATC is minimized where MC is equal to ATC.
3
Answer Key
Testname: UNTITLED1
Equating MC to ATC
4000 + 5Q + 10Q2
= 5 + 20Q
Q
4000 +5Q + 102 = 5Q + 20Q2
4000 = 10Q2
Q2 = 400
Q = 20
ATC is minimized at 20 units of output. Up to 20, ATC falls, while beyond 20 ATC rises.
MC should be less than ATC for any quantity less than 20.
For example, let Q = 10:
MC = 5 + 20(10) = 205
4000 + 5(10) + 10(10)2
ATC = = 505
10
MC is indeed less than ATC for quantities smaller than 20.
MC should exceed ATC for any quantity greater than 20.
For example, let Q = 25:
MC = 5 + 20(25) = 505
4000 + 5(25) + 10(25)2
ATC = = 415
25
MC is indeed greater than ATC for quantities greater than 20.