101 Concepts for the Level I Exam
Concept 19: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale
Economies of scale: As output increases, the long-run cost per unit decreases. Factors contributing to economies of scale include:
- Increase in output larger than increase in input
- Specialization
- More expensive but more efficient equipment
- Lower waste and lower costs
- Better use of market information
- Volume discounts from suppliers
Diseconomies of scale: As output increases, the long-run cost per unit increases. Factors contributing to diseconomies of scale include:
- Increases in output are less than increases in input
- Company size becomes too large to manage efficiently
- Duplication
- Higher labor costs
- Higher resource costs
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