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- [Alex] Today we're
going to wrap up
our discussion
of entry, exit and supply curves
by talking briefly
about the fascinating case
of the decreasing cost industry.
What's important and interesting
about decreasing cost industries is
that we think
that they explain clusters.
places like Dalton, Georgia,
known as the Carpet Capital
of the world,
because about 90%
of the world's manufactured carpet is
made in this one
small town in Georgia.
Or think about Silicon Valley
for computer technology
or Hollywood for movies.
Or how about Hangji, China
where they make three
to four billion toothbrushes a year
in this one small town.
Now what is it about Hangji, China?
Is there something special
which makes this town
just the ideal place in all
the world to make toothbrushes?
No, not at all.
It's not like mining
diamonds or gold.
Toothbrushes could be
made anywhere.
Is there anything really
special about Dalton, Georgia,
which makes it the ideal place
for making carpets?
No, so why then do we see
these industrial clusters?
The idea is this: clusters evolve
when greater output decreases
local industry costs,
and the best way to explain this
is to give kind
of a stylized history which
fits the facts for many
of these clusters
such as the one in Dalton, Georgia.
The idea is that the first firm locates
more or less randomly.
However, the first firm creates
some local knowledge.
In the case of Dalton, Georgia,
it was knowledge
about how to produce carpets.
It began to train workers
in specialized techniques
in order to produce carpets.
Some input suppliers
for the backing of the carpet,
for example, also began
to locate in Dalton Georgia.
So there were advantages
which began to develop
in Dalton, Georgia simply
because one firm was there already.
A second firm looking
around the country
and deciding where to locate
then chooses to locate
in Dalton, Georgia
next to the first firm, because
that's where the specialized
inputs already exist.
That's where there's
some workers -- which already
understand the technology --
can be more easily found.
Once the second firm does that,
it contributes
to the local knowledge.
And the third firm looking around
also now finds that costs are
even lower in Dalton, Georgia
than they are elsewhere,
and the process continues.
You can think about this
as a virtuous circle.
Output increases
with the first firm.
That produces some decreases
in costs; costs fall.
That increases entry
as other firms come into that area
to take advantage
of those lower costs.
And that increases output,
and the process continues.
Of course, the process doesn't
continue forever.
We don't find cost going to zero,
but the process can continue
long enough so that Dalton, Georgia
gets an overwhelming advantage.
So many firms locate
in Dalton, Georgia producing carpets
that it would be crazy to produce
carpets anywhere else,
because Dalton, Georgia is where
you can easily find the workers,
where you can easily find
the knowledge,
where the suppliers
understand the business.
In Dalton, Georgia,
even the community colleges teach
the techniques needed
in order to produce carpet.
So these virtuous circles can
generate decreasing costs. Okay, I'm not going to
say anymore about that. I'm going to leave
it briefly for today.
If you do want to learn more, I've
provided a bonus lecture which is from
MRUniversity on international trade,
particularly on trade and external
economies of scale. I talk much more about
these clusters and their influence on
trade in that video, which you'll also
find in your course materials. Okay, let's
sum up. So in this chapter, we've really
done two things. First, based upon profit
maximization in a firm's cost curves,
we've shown how a firm decides how much to
produce and also when to enter or exit
an industry. Second, based upon those
production decisions, we've shown how a
supply curve is built up founded upon the
choices of firms in entering and exiting
and how much to produce. And we've looked
at three particular cases, the constant
cost industry with examples of domain name
registration of spoons or waiters, or
rutabagas has a flat supply curve. Costs
don't change as output of the industry
changes and so the supply curve is flat.
The increasing cost industry - oil, steel,
nuclear physicists, costs increase, industry
cost increases, output increases, and as a
result, the supply curve increases. And
finally the uncommon but important case of
a decreasing cost industry where at least
over some range and in a particular
location cost can fall with increased
quantity, and how this type of cost
structure generates clusters, clusters
like Dalton, Georgia, like Silicon Valley
and Hollywood, and so forth. Okay, that's
it. Thank you.
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