
Figure 8.18 Long-Run Adjustments to a Reduction in Costs in a Perfectly Competitive Industry
(a) A decrease in industrywide marginal costs leads to an increase in the supply of beef from
S1 to
S2. Industry quantity increases from
Q1 to
Q2, and the market price decreases from
P1 to
P2 in the long run.(b) The decrease in industrywide marginal costs shifts the individual cattle rancher’s lon
g-run marginal cost from LMC1 to LMC2 and long-run average total cost from LATC1 to LATC2. In the long run, the rancher increases output from
to
.(c) An increase in the supply of beef leads to a long-run decrease in price from P1 to P2, and quantity of beef supplied increases from Q1 to Q2.