Managerial
Economics
Alp
Atakan
This material is for the exclusive use in MGEC classes at Koc University. No other use is allowed without my permission.
1
Trading Aluminum Ingot on the LME:
An Illustration
•
During a typical trading period in the “ring” on the London Metal Exchange (LME), suppose that there are 6 potenRal buyers of aluminum contracts and 6 potenRal sellers of aluminum contracts (on the LME, each contract contains 25 tons of aluminum), with the following characterisRcs:
Poten@al
Buyer
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
•
•
•
Highest price buyer is willing to pay (“B”)
($
per ton)
$
1,600
$
1,500
$
1,300
$
1,200
$
1,100
1,000
$
Poten@al
Seller
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Lowest price seller is willing to accept (“C”)
($
per ton)
$
7 00
$ 8 00
$ 9 00
$
1,100
$
1,200
1,300
$
A buyer only knows his/her own “B”; a seller only knows his/her own “C”
Buyers
would like “buy low.” Sellers would like to “sell high.”
What
transac@ons will take place? At what price?
2
What Does Microeconomics Predict About the Number of Trades and the Prices at which Trades Take Place?
$
per ton
$ per ton
1700
1700
1600
1600
1500
1500
1400
1300
Poten@al sellers in “merit order”
Poten@al buyers in “merit order”
1400
1300
700
700
600
600
300
200
100
0
Poten&al seller #2
400
Poten&al seller #1
500
1
2
3
4
5
Quan&ty
(contracts)
500
400
300
200
100
6
0
1
2
3
4
Quan&ty
(contracts)
Poten&al buyer #6
800
Poten&al buyer #5
800
Poten&al buyer #4
900
Poten&al buyer #3
900
Poten&al buyer #2
1000
Poten&al buyer #1
1000
Poten&al seller #6
1100
Poten&al seller #5
1100
Poten&al seller #4
1200
Poten&al seller #3
1200
5
3
6
Price ($ per ton)
Trading Aluminum Ingots on the LME:
Theoretical Prediction
1700
•
1600
Equilibrium quanRty: 4 contracts will be traded
•
Equilibrium price: between $1,100 and $1,200 per ton
1500
Supply Curve
1400
1300
1200
1100
Demand Curve
• What will actually happen in the trading pit?
1000
900
800
✓
700
600
✓
✓
500
400
✓
300
200
✓
100
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
Quan&ty (contracts)
6
Remember: in the pit, no one knows these curves!
Freewheeling
negoRaRon!
PotenRal
buyers call out prices at which they are willing to buy
PotenRal
sellers call out prices at which they are willing to sell.
Trade
prices are posted publicly
7
4
Aluminum Smelting is a Perfectly Competitive Market
•