Which of the following describes the value of a product? - the amount of money that consumers are willing to pay for the product
- the time and materials that it costs a manufacturer to make the product
- the difference between the cost of making the product and what consumers pay for the product
- the sum of the total cost of making the product and what consumers pay for the product

Peninsula products has just applied for a loan at your bank. when reviewing peninsula's books for the year that just ended, you notice that the firm uses the fair value option for its bonds payable. you also see that the firm recorded a $55,000 debit in its bonds payable account and a $55,000 credit in its unrealized holding gain or loss"income account. over that same period, interest rates decreased by about 0.5 percent. how should this information affect the bank's decision as to whether to grant peninsula a loan? a : the bank should strongly consider giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen an increase in its credit rating over the past year. b : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely the result of the rise in interest rates. c : the bank should hesitate before giving a loan to peninsula because the changes in firm's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts suggest that peninsula has seen a decline in its credit rating over the past year. d : the bank should put little emphasis on the changes in peninsula's bonds payable and unrealized holding gain or loss"income accounts because these changes are likely unrelated to either interest rates or the firm's credit rating.

5. profit maximization and shutting down in the short run suppose that the market for polos is a competitive market. the following graph shows the daily cost curves of a firm operating in this market. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 price (dollars per polo) quantity (thousands of polos) mc atc avc for each price in the following table, calculate the firm's optimal quantity of units to produce, and determine the profit or loss if it produces at that quantity, using the data from the previous graph to identify its total variable cost. assume that if the firm is indifferent between producing and shutting down, it will produce. (hint: you can select the purple points [diamond symbols] on the previous graph to see precise information on average variable cost.) price quantity total revenue fixed cost variable cost profit (dollars per polo) (polos) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) (dollars) 12.50 135,000 27.50 135,000 45.00 135,000 if the firm shuts down, it must incur its fixed costs (fc) in the short run. in this case, the firm's fixed cost is $135,000 per day. in other words, if it shuts down, the firm would suffer losses of $135,000 per day until its fixed costs end (such as the expiration of a building lease). this firm's shutdown price—that is, the price below which it is optimal for the firm to shut down—is per polo.

Specialization—the division of labor—enhances productivity and efficiency by a) allowing workers to take advantage of existing differences in their abilities and skills. b) avoiding the time loss involved in shifting from one production task to another. c) allowing workers to develop skills by working on one, or a limited number, of tasks. d)all of the means identified in the other answers.