In the united states, cartels are –. however, even if they weren't, cartels are not always stable. if one firm in a two-member cartel decides to –, the other firm will be forced to – the first one. eventually both companies would arrive at the – and end up earning less revenue.

Precision dyes is analyzing two machines to determine which one it should purchase. the company requires a rate of return of 15 percent and uses straight-line depreciation to a zero book value over the life of its equipment. ignore bonus depreciation. machine a has a cost of $462,000, annual aftertax cash outflows of $46,200, and a four-year life. machine b costs $898,000, has annual aftertax cash outflows of $16,500, and has a seven-year life. whichever machine is purchased will be replaced at the end of its useful life. which machine should the company purchase and how much less is that machine's eac as compared to the other machine's

The production manager of rordan corporation has submitted the following quarterly production forecast for the upcoming fiscal year: 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter units to be produced 10,800 8,500 7,100 11,200 each unit requires 0.25 direct labor-hours, and direct laborers are paid $20.00 per hour. required: 1. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year. assume that the direct labor workforce is adjusted each quarter to match the number of hours required to produce the forecasted number of units produced. 2. prepare the company’s direct labor budget for the upcoming fiscal year, assuming that the direct labor workforce is not adjusted each quarter. instead, assume that the company’s direct labor workforce consists of permanent employees who are guaranteed to be paid for at least 2,500 hours of work each quarter. if the number of required direct labor-hours is less than this number, the workers are paid for 2,500 hours anyway. any hours worked in excess of 2,500 hours in a quarter are paid at the rate of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate for direct labor.

The returns on the common stock of maynard cosmetic specialties are quite cyclical. in a boom economy, the stock is expected to return 22 percent in comparison to 9 percent in a normal economy and a negative 14 percent in a recessionary period. the probability of a recession is 35 percent while the probability of a boom is 10 percent. what is the standard deviation of the returns on this stock?