Successive monopolies can earn larger profits by operating independently rather than working together or cooperating

One of the interesting findings of a survey of firm managers by Blinder et al. is that:

A) the vast majority of firms pay considerable attention to marginal costs in making decisions about how much output to produce. B) the majority of respondents suggested that fixed costs are a relatively unimportant consideration when making output decisions. C) approximately 75 percent of respondents indicated that their marginal costs of production are rising over the relevant range of output. D) a significant percentage of respondents to the survey did not appear to understand the concept of marginal cost.

If long-run average total cost decreases as the quantity of output increases, the firm is experiencing

a. economies of scale. b. diseconomies of scale. c. coordination problems arising from the large size of the firm. d. fixed costs greatly exceeding variable costs.