(8th edition) (the pearson series in economics) robert pindyck, daniel rubinfeld microecon 324

CHAPTER • Profit Maximization and Competitive Supply 299 Price (dollars per unit of output) MC AVC F IGURE 8.11 Producer Surplus A B D P C q* PRODUCER SURPLUS FOR A FIRM The producer surplus for a firm is measured by the yellow area below the market price and above the marginal cost curve, between outputs and q*, the profit-maximizing output Alternatively, it is equal to rectangle ABCD because the sum of all marginal costs up to q* is equal to the variable costs of producing q* Output Figure 8.11 illustrates short-run producer surplus for a firm The profit-maximizing output is q*, where P ϭ MC The surplus that the producer obtains from selling each unit is the difference between the price and the marginal cost of producing the unit The producer surplus is then the sum of these “unit surpluses” over all units that the firm produces It is given by the yellow area under the firm’s horizontal demand curve and above its marginal cost curve, from zero output to the profit-maximizing output q* When we add the marginal cost of producing each level of output from to q*, we find that the sum is the total variable cost of producing q* Marginal cost reflects increments to cost associated with increases in output; because fixed cost does not vary with output, the sum of all marginal costs must equal the sum of the firm’s variable costs.6 Thus producer surplus can alternatively be defined as the difference between the firm’s revenue and its total variable cost In Figure 8.11, producer surplus is also given by the rectangle ABCD, which equals revenue (0ABq*) minus variable cost (0DCq*) PRODUCER SURPLUS VERSUS PROFIT Producer surplus is closely related to profit but is not equal to it In the short run, producer surplus is equal to revenue minus variable cost, which is variable profit Total profit, on the other hand, is equal to revenue minus all costs, both variable and fixed: Producer surplus = PS = R - VC Profit = p = R - VC - FC It follows that in the short run, when fixed cost is positive, producer surplus is greater than profit The extent to which firms enjoy producer surplus depends on their costs of production Higher-cost firms have less producer surplus and lower-cost firms have more By adding up the producer surpluses of all firms, we can determine the producer The area under the marginal cost curve from to q* is TC(q*) − TC(0) ϭ TC − FC ϭ VC