The toothpaste industry with 5 firms is a monopolistic competition, if a sixth firm
decides to entry the market, what will happen to firms’ specific demand curve?
A) shifts to the right
B) shifts to the left
C) stays the same
D) none of the above
Additional Application
For the first seven months of 2006 Stockholm, Sweden has been testing a possible
solution to the city’s traffic congestion. It is called “congestion pricing” and their system
includes ‘small transponder boxes, laser detectors and a network of cameras to track the
path of every car” They want to reduce problems associated with smog and gridlock
and, in turn, improve the quality of life.
The experiment recorded each car’s registration, the date and time of day, as it passed
through specific electronic tolls and calculated a fee that was charged to the car’s owner.
During the rush hour the fee could be as high as $2.75. But in the evenings the toll
would be zero. The expectation is that people will respond to these varying tolls, change
their driving habits to be more efficient, and take more public transportation.
The next step is to put a referendum to the voters to decide whether this system will
become a permanent feature in the life of Stockholm drivers.
Leila Abboud and Jenny Clevstrom, “Stockholm’s Syndrome: Hostages to Traffic,
Swedes Will Vote on High-Tech Plan To Untangle Snarls With Tolls,” Wall Street
Journal, August 29, 2006, http://infoweb.newsbank.com, accessed 11/22/06.
The gridlock and smog that are associated with the traffic in Stockholm, Sweden are
known as:
A) direct costs.
B) business costs.