-West Coast Gas, Inc., is a natural gas supplier. The firm faces the demand schedule shown in the table above and cannot price discriminate. The company's fixed cost is $1,000 per month and its marginal cost is constant at $10 per thousand of cubic feet.
a) Draw the demand curve faced by West Coast Gas and the marginal revenue curve. Draw the company's marginal cost and average cost curves.
b) Is West Coast Gas a natural monopoly? Why or why not?
c) What are the firm's profit-maximizing output and price? What is the firm's economic profit per month?
d) If West Coast Gas maximizes its profit, does it also maximize total surplus? Why or why not? What is the deadweight loss (if any)?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer of 
-West Coast Gas, Inc., is a natural gas supplier. The firm faces the demand schedule shown in the table above and cannot price discriminate. The company's fixed cost is $1,000 per month and its marginal cost is constant at $10 per thousand of cubic feet.
a) Draw the demand curve faced by West Coast Gas and the marginal revenue curve. Draw the company's marginal cost and average cost curves.
b) Is West Coast Gas a natural monopoly? Why or why not?
c) What are the firm's profit-maximizing output and price? What is the firm's economic profit per month?
d) If West Coast Gas maximizes its profit, does it also maximize total surplus? Why or why not? What is the deadweight loss (if any)?