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NATURAL MONOPOLY: A special type of monopoly that's able to lower its price when it produces and sells a larger quantity. This somewhat remarkable ability results because a natural monopoly uses a great deal of capital. In that capital carries an up front cost that must be paid regardless of production, a natural monopoly can spread these costs over larger quantity--if it produces more. The larger the quantity sold, the lower the cost for each unit. A single natural monopoly is thus able to produce and supply a good at a lower cost, and price, than two or more firms. In other words, if two or more firms try to supply the same good, the market will "naturally" end up with just one.
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                           AVERAGE PRODUCT CURVE: A curve that graphically illustrates the relation between average product and the quantity of the variable input, holding all other inputs fixed. This curve indicates the per unit output at each level of the variable input. The average product curve is one of three related curves used in the analysis of the short-run production of a firm. The other two are total product curve and marginal product curve. The average product curve illustrates how average product is related to a variable input. While the standard analysis of short-run production relates average product to labor, an average product curve can be constructed for any variable input. | Average Product Curve |  |
The diagram to the right graphically represents the relation between average product and the variable input. This particular curve is derived from the hourly production of Super Deluxe TexMex Gargantuan Tacos (with sour cream and jalapeno peppers) as Waldo's TexMex Taco World restaurant employs additional workers. The number of workers, measured on the horizontal axis, ranges from 0 to 10 and the average Gargantuan Taco production per worker, measured on the vertical axis, ranges from 0 to 25.The shape of this average product curve is worth noting. For the first two workers of variable input, average product increases. This is reflected in a positive slope of the average product curve. After the third worker, the average product declines. This is seen as a negative slope. While average product continues to decline, it never reaches zero nor becomes negative. To do so would require total product to become zero and negative, which just does not happen. The hump-shape of the average product curve indirectly results from increasing and decreasing marginal returns. The upward-sloping portion of the average product curve, up to the second worker, is indirectly due to increasing marginal returns. The downward-sloping portion of the average product curve, after the third worker, is indirectly due to decreasing marginal returns. and the law of diminishing marginal returns.
Recommended Citation:AVERAGE PRODUCT CURVE, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: April 23, 2025].
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time at the confiscated property police auction looking to buy either a coffee cup commemorating the 1960 Presidential election or a how-to book on fixing your computer, with illustrations. Be on the lookout for a thesaurus filled with typos.
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Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen were the 1st Nobel Prize winners in Economics in 1969.
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