📚 Learning Guide
Monopolistic Competition Analysis
easy

In a monopolistically competitive market, which of the following best describes the relationship between price and marginal cost for the firms operating in this market structure?

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Learning Path
Learning Path

Question & Answer
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Choose the Best Answer

A

Price is equal to marginal cost

B

Price is greater than marginal cost

C

Price is less than marginal cost

D

Price equals average total cost

Understanding the Answer

Let's break down why this is correct

Answer

In a monopolistically competitive market, firms have some control over their prices because they sell products that are similar but not identical. This means that the price they charge is usually higher than the marginal cost, which is the cost of producing one more unit of their product. For example, if a coffee shop sells a unique blend of coffee for $5 a cup, but it only costs them $3 to make each cup, the price is above the marginal cost. This situation occurs because firms want to maximize their profits, and they can set prices above marginal costs due to product differentiation. Overall, in this market structure, the price is greater than the marginal cost, leading to a profit for the firms.

Detailed Explanation

In this type of market, firms have some control over their prices. Other options are incorrect because Some might think price equals marginal cost, but that's not true here; Thinking price is less than marginal cost is a common mistake.

Key Concepts

market power
Topic

Monopolistic Competition Analysis

Difficulty

easy level question

Cognitive Level

understand

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