Saying the marginal costs are greater than the marginal benefits is the same as saying?

Answer 1

Marginal costs and marginal benefits are discussing the conditions for profit maximization. This statement can only have further explanation if it is clarified under circumstantial economic conditions. One of the conditions is that the firm is not a monopoly and that there is competition that keeps the price of the good at a single price. Another condition is that there are diminishing returns to labor and production. This means that resources are scarce for production so it becomes more costly to produce more because there are more constraints to resources and there is a limited labor skill pool. In a competitive market the wage is also assumed to be equal for everyone who is employed to do the same job. Thus, if the marginal costs are greater than the marginal benefits then the profit maximizing equation for a firm or individual is not in balance. The profit maximizing condition for a firm or individual is marginal costs equal marginal benefits. For example in the context of a firm, the marginal costs of producing is the wage it must pay to each extra worker it hires and the benefits are the goods that the worker produces for the firm to sell. Assuming that all workers are given the same wage, the firm should hire as many workers until the marginal revenue the worker produces (Marginal product*price) is equal to the wage. This implies price important because price determines how much revenue the worker makes from the product. If the firm is producing where marginal cost is above marginal benefit the firm is losing money and should get rid of some workers. If the firm has control over the price, like in a monopoly, then the profit maximization condition is a little different. In the case of a monopoly the demand curve is not the same as the marginal revenue curve. This is because in a monopoly the firm has to decrease price in order to sell more of the good because they are the only supplier. Marginal revenue is derived from the demand but the profit maximization condition is still marginal cost equals marginal benefits but marginal benefits does not equal the demand curve.