PERFECT COMPETITION AND SHORT-RUN SUPPLY CURVE: A perfectly competitive firm's supply curve is that portion of its' marginal cost curve that lies above the minimum of the average variable cost curve. A perfectly competitive firm maximizes profit by producing the quantity of output that equates price and marginal cost. As such, the firm moves along it's marginal cost curve in response to alternative prices. Because the marginal cost curve is positively sloped due to the law of diminishing marginal returns, the firm's supply curve is also positively sloped.

     See also | perfect competition | supply curve | short run | law of supply | marginal cost | marginal cost curve | average variable cost | average variable cost curve | law of diminishing marginal returns | monopoly and perfect competition | perfect competition and demand | perfect competition and efficiency | perfect competition characteristics |

PERFECT COMPETITION AND SHORT-RUN SUPPLY CURVE, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2026. [Accessed: July 21, 2026].

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Government purchases by the government sector that do not depend on income or production (especially national income or gross domestic product). That is, changes in income do not generate changes in government purchases. Autonomous government purchases are best thought of as government purchases that the government sector undertake independent of income. They are measured by the intercept term of the government purchases line. The alternative to autonomous government purchases is induced government purchases, which do depend on income.

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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time going from convenience store to convenience store hoping to buy either a replacement battery for your pocket calculator or a how-to book on home remodeling. Be on the lookout for strangers with large satchels of used undergarments.
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