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Revenue and Cost Curves under Perfect Competition

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Topics

  • Revenue and Cost Curves under Perfect Competition
  • TR as area under MR (price) curve
  • TVC as area under MC curve
  • Real-Life Application
  • Key Points: Revenue and Cost Curves under Perfect Competition
CISCE: Class 12

Revenue and Cost Curves under Perfect Competition

  • In a perfectly competitive market, the market price of a commodity is fixed by the intersection of total market demand and total market supply of all firms in the industry.​
  • A single firm is too small to influence this price, so it is a price taker and can sell any quantity at the given market price.
CISCE: Class 12

TR as area under MR (price) curve

Numerical illustration (using the given table)

Output (Q) TR (₹) MR (₹) = TRn − TRn−1
0 0
1 10 10 − 0 = 10
2 20 20 − 10 = 10
3 30 30 − 20 = 10
4 40 40 − 30 = 10
  • TR increases by ₹10 for every extra unit of output.
  • Hence, MR is constant at ₹10 and is equal to AR and the price for each unit.
  • At output 4 units, TR=₹40, which is the sum of MR for all 4 units: 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = ₹40

This constant‑price, constant‑MR pattern matches the standard Class 12 treatment of revenue under perfect competition.​

CISCE: Class 12

TVC as area under MC curve

  • TVC is obtained by adding the marginal cost of each extra unit.
  • If MC is drawn as a curve against output, the sum of marginal costs from unit 1 to unit OL is represented by the area under the MC curve between 0 and OL.
  • Therefore:
    TVC = area under the MC curve over the relevant range of output.

CISCE: Class 12

Real-Life Application

  • Imagine many farmers selling the same quality of wheat in a large grain market.
  • The mandi price per kg is set by overall demand and supply for wheat in that region.
  • A single farmer cannot influence this price; whether the farmer brings 10 bags or 100 bags, each kg sells at the same market price.
  • For this farmer, price = AR = MR, and total revenue is simply price multiplied by quantity of wheat sold.

This type of “farmer in a competitive market” example is commonly used by major platforms to explain perfect competition.​

CISCE: Class 12

Key Points: Revenue and Cost Curves under Perfect Competition

  • Under perfect competition, the industry sets the market price where market demand equals market supply.
  • An individual firm is a price taker; it faces a perfectly elastic demand curve at the market price.
  • For the firm, Price = AR = MR, and the AR and MR curves coincide as a horizontal line.
  • With constant price, MR is constant and TR rises at a constant rate as output increases.
  • TR at a given output equals the area under the MR (price) curve up to that output.
  • TVC equals the area under the MC curve, just as TR equals the area under MR.

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