Menu costs, Managerial Economics

Assignment Help:

Menu Costs 

Why do firms not change their prices very  frequently? Obviously, the costs of changing prices at  frequent intervals and in small amounts must be more  than the benefits obtained from such a change. Firms prefer to wait before they make price changes in relatively large amounts and in the mean time absorb the losses that they would  suffer by not changing prices. This of course presumes that the firms  have  some monopolistic price setting power and  the  losses referred to above include lower profits  than would have been possible  if prices had been raised, and not necessarily actual out-of-pocket losses.

It  is  easy to understand  this  behaviour  of monopolistically competitive firms through the example of restaurants competing with each other. The term  'menu costs' immediately becomes meaningful as the costs that would be  incurred  in changing the menu cards every time there  is a change in the prices of items on the menu. These printing costs are surely negligible, but  the more  important costs are in terms of the loss of customers that a firm would face if it subjects its clientele to the 'irritability'  of continuous, small changes in prices. The concept  of menu costs in  a modem economy  is  indeed broad.  It  is  also widely applicable, given  the proliferation of automatic dispensers (e.g., coffee machines) and pay  telephones that operate on coins.  

It  is easy to  imagine  the cost that would be  incurred by  the suppliers if these ubiquitous machines were to be adjusted every time a price change is effected. The firms would rather not change their prices.  It  is  this idea  of weighing  the  costs  of  changing prices against the benefits obtained  from  changing prices that  is  formalised  in  the Mankiw model that we consider below.    


Related Discussions:- Menu costs

Calculate the optimal lifetime incomes and firms, Dan and Ann are chemical ...

Dan and Ann are chemical engineers working for a biotech company. Each of them would like to be promoted to a managerial position, but only one of them can get the job. Their super

The determination of equilibrium national income, THE DETERMINATION OF EQUI...

THE DETERMINATION OF EQUILIBRIUM NATIONAL INCOME National income is said to be in equilibrium when there is no tendency for it either to increase or for it to decrease.  The a

Short run cost , What will be the table of total cost function?

What will be the table of total cost function?

Show the example on transaction cost theory, Q. Show the example on transac...

Q. Show the example on transaction cost theory? Coase begins from standpoint that markets could in theory carry out all production and that what needs to be illustrated is th

Nature and functions of money , Nature and Functions of Money The concep...

Nature and Functions of Money The concept of money is very difficult to define . it is belongs to the category of things which are not amenable to any single definition. It is p

What is the equilibrium in the labor market, What is the equilibrium in the...

What is the equilibrium in the labor market? Explain briefly. Equilibrium in the Labor Market a. The market labor of demand curve is the horizontal total of the individual l

Disadvantages of a free economy, Disadvantages of a Free Economy The f...

Disadvantages of a Free Economy The free market gives rise to certain inefficiencies called market failures i.e. where the market system fails to provide an optimal allocation

Rock-paper-scissors game, A mother is torn among choosing her son Leonardo ...

A mother is torn among choosing her son Leonardo and her daughter Meryl to have the last bar of chocolate in her cupboard. As both her children's needs the chocolate and she needs

Give brief description about economics, Economics is generally defined as t...

Economics is generally defined as the problem of how best to allocate limited resources, limited because needs are characterized as unlimited, but common sense tells us that rather

Cost, define scarcity and opportunity cost..

define scarcity and opportunity cost..

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd