Wilford Wonka owns a candy factory that specializes in magically delicious chocolate bars of 6 varieties. After all of the necessary ingredients have been grown and harvested, they go through a complicated process of mixing, molding, and drying, after which the chocolate bars reach the last step of packaging. On average, a machine requires 5 minutes of labor to change from packaging one variety of chocolate bar to another. If the machine is configured to process a given variety of bar, it then takes 15 seconds to package each bar, regardless of the variety. There are 8 packaging machines, and each is running 95% of the workday. A. m = 8, p = 15 seconds, setup time = 5 minutes, u = 95%
B. m = 8, p = 5 minutes, setup time = 15 seconds, u = 95%
C. m = 8, p = 15, setup time = 5, u = 95%
D. m = 6, p = 15 seconds, setup time = 5 minutes, u = 95%

Suppose a firm faces a fixed price of output, 푝푝= 1200. the firm hires workers from a union at a daily wage, 푤푤, to produce output according to the production function 푞푞= 2퐸퐸12. there are 225 workers in the union. any union worker who does not work for this firm is guaranteed to find nonunion employment at a wage of $96 per day. a.what is the firm’s labor demand function? b.if the firm is allowed to choose 푤푤, but then the union decides how many workers to provide (up to 225) at that wage, what wage will the firm set? how many workers will the union provide? what is the firm’s output and profit? what is the total income of the 225 union workers? c.now suppose that the union sets the wage, but the firm decides how many workers to hire at that wage (up to 225). what wage will the union set to maximize the total income of all 225 workers? how many workers will the firm hire? what is the firm’s output and profit? what is the total income of the 225 union workers? [hint: to maximize total income of union, take the first order condition with respect to w and set equal to 0.]

M. cotteleer electronics supplies microcomputer circuitry to a company that incorporates microprocessors into refrigerators and other home appliances. one of the components has an annual demand of 235 units, and this is constant throughout the year. carrying cost is estimated to be $1.25 per unit per year, and the ordering (setup) cost is $21 per order. a) to minimize cost, how many units should be ordered each time an order is placed? b) how many orders per year are needed with the optimal policy? c) what is the average inventory if costs are minimized? d) suppose that the ordering cost is not $21, and cotteleer has been ordering 125 units each time an order is placed. for this order policy (of q = 125) to be optimal, determine what the ordering cost would have to be.

Google started as one of many internet search engines, amazon started as an online book seller, and ebay began as a site where people could sell used personal items in auctions. these firms have grown to be so large and dominant that they are facing antitrust scrutiny from competition regulators in the us and elsewhere. did these online giants grow by fairly beating competition, or did they use unfair advantages? are there any clouds on the horizon for these firms -- could they face diseconomies of scale or diseconomies of scope as they continue to grow? if so, what factors may limit their continued growth?