Question

Pick Industries produces plastic toothpicks that it sells to distributors in the Southwest. During the early 1990s, the price of the plastic it uses to produce toothpicks fell by 46 percent, due to a local glut of recycled plastic containers. Assuming that the market for plastic toothpicks most closely resembles that of perfect competition and that other firms in the industry do not experience similar cost savings in the short run, what impact would this have on the profit-maximizing output, price, and profits of Pick Industries?

Answer 1

Other things equal, the fall in the price of plastic would shift Pic's marginal cost curve to the right. To maximize profits, Pic should increase its output. Since other firms in the industry do not enjoy the reduction in marginal costs, the market supply curve would not change and the market price of toothpicks would remain unchanged. Pic Industries would enjoy higher profits in the short-run