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In the long-run, firms change production levels in response to (expected) economic profits or losses, and the land, labour, capital goods and entrepreneurship vary to reach the minimum level of long-run average cost. A generic firm can make the following changes in the long-run: Enter an industry in response to (expected) profits
The long-run cost curve is a cost function that models this minimum cost over time, meaning inputs are not fixed. Using the long-run cost curve, firms can scale their means of production to reduce the costs of producing the good. [1] There are three principal cost functions (or 'curves') used in microeconomic analysis:
The long-run marginal cost (LRMC) curve shows for each unit of output the added total cost incurred in the long run, that is, the conceptual period when all factors of production are variable. Stated otherwise, LRMC is the minimum increase in total cost associated with an increase of one unit of output when all inputs are variable.
Each of these factors reduces the long run average costs (LRAC) of production by shifting the short-run average total cost (SRATC) curve down and to the right. Economies of scale is a concept that may explain patterns in international trade or in the number of firms in a given market.
In the long run, all factors of production are variable and subject to change in response to a given increase in production scale. In other words, returns to scale analysis is a long-term theory because a company can only change the scale of production in the long run by changing factors of production, such as building new facilities, investing ...
A long-run average cost curve is typically downward sloping at relatively low levels of output, and upward or downward sloping at relatively high levels of output. Most commonly, the long-run average cost curve is U-shaped, by definition reflecting economies of scale where negatively sloped and diseconomies of scale where positively sloped.
A firm making profits in the short run will nonetheless only break even in the long run because demand will decrease and average total cost will increase, meaning that in the long run, a monopolistically competitive company will make zero economic profit. This illustrates the amount of influence the company has over the market; because of brand ...
L-shaped long run average cost curve. Modern cost theory and recent empirical studies [5] [6] suggest that, instead of a U-shaped curve due to the presence of diseconomies of scale, the long run average cost curve is more likely to be L-shaped. In the L-shaped cost curve, the long run cost would keep fixed with a significantly increased scale ...