Microeconomics › Section G · Production, costs, and industry structure › Topic G.3
Costs in the short run
Every cost curve the course will use grows from one physical fact: in the short run something is fixed. The fixed cost gets spread thinner as output grows, and the variable cost climbs as the fixed input congests. The tug between those two forces draws the U-shaped cost curves.
In this topic
- From production to costs
- Fixed and variable costs
- Three averages from one total
- Marginal cost
- Why the curves have their shapes
- Worked example: a print shop's cost table
- Marginal cost and the averages: the grade-point rule
- Worked example: finding the efficient scale
- Cost curves are the supply story's first half
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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