Rapida inc. and click inc. are two companies that have been manufacturing typewriters for almost 30 years. due to the reduced demand for typewriters today, both companies' average return on invested capital is approximately –5 percent. the current industry average is 2 percent. in this scenario, rapida inc. and click inc. most likely have
a. competitive advantage over other firms in their industry.
b. competitive parity with each other.
c. strategic alliance with each other.
d. economies of scope instead of economies of scale.

Consider how health insurance affects the quantity of health care services performed. suppose that the typical medical procedure has a cost of $160, yet a person with health insurance pays only $40 out of pocket. her insurance company pays the remaining $120. (the insurance company recoups the $120 through premiums, but the premium a person pays does not depend on how many procedures that person chooses to undergo.) consider the following demand curve in the market for medical care. use the black point (plus symbol) to indicate the quantity of procedures demanded if each procedure has a price of $160. then use the grey point (star symbol) to indicate the quantity of procedures demanded if each procedure has a price of $40. q d at p=$160 q d at p=$40 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 price of medical procedures quantity of medical procedures demand if the cost of each procedure to society is truly $160, the quantity that maximizes total surplus is procedures. economists often blame the health insurance system for excessive use of medical care. given your analysis, the use of care might be viewed as excessive because consumers get procedures whose value is than the cost of producing them.

What is the present value of the following cash flow stream at a rate of 12.0%? years: 0 1 2 3 4| | | | |cfs: $0 $1,500 $3,000 $4,500 $6,000a. $9,699b. $10,210c. $10,747d. $11,284e. $11,849

Total marketing effort is a term used to describe the critical decision factors that affect demand: price, advertising, distribution, and product quality. define the variable x to represent total marketing effort. a typical model that is used to predict demand as a function of total marketing effort is based on the power function: d = axb suppose that a is a positive number. different model forms result from varying the constant b. sketch the graphs of this model for b = 0, b = 1, 0< b< 1, b< 0, and b> 1. (we encourage you to use excel to do this.) what does each model tell you about the relationship between demand and marketing effort? what assumptions are implied? are they reasonable? how would you go about selecting the appropriate model?