Consider the following scenario to understand the relationship between marginal and average values. Suppose Dmitri is a
Question:
Consider the following scenario to understand the relationship between marginal and average values. Suppose Dmitri is a professional basketball player, and his game log for free throws can be summarized in the following table.
Game | Game result | total | game free-throw percentage | average free-throw percentage |
1 | 6/8 | 6/8 | 75 | 75 |
2 | 2/8 | 8/16 | ||
3 | 2/4 | 10/20 | ||
4 | 8/10 | 18/30 | ||
5 | 8/10 | 26/40 |
You can think of the result in any one game as being Dmitri's marginal free-throw percentage. Based on your previous answer, you can deduce that when Dmitri's marginal free-throw percentage is below the average, the average must be . You can now apply this analysis to production costs. For a U-shaped average total cost cu total cost curve, when the marginal cost curve is below the average total cost curve, the average total cost must be .
Also, when the marginal cost, above the average total cost curve, the average total cost must be . Therefore, the marginal cost curve intersects the average total cost curve .
Intermediate Microeconomics and Its Application
ISBN: 978-1133189039
12th edition
Authors: Walter Nicholson, Christopher M. Snyder