how to visualize long run average total cost
the calculation of the lratc may be represented as a curve showing the lowest costs that a company will be able to reach for any degree of output over time the shape of that curve can closely resemble the curve calculated for short run average total costs the lratc can be seen as made up of a series of short run curves as a company improves its efficiency the curve itself can be divided into three segments or phases during the economies of scale at the beginning of the curve costs are reduced as the company grows more efficient and its production costs diminish the first iterations of product development and assembly carry costs that will largely be greater at the onset as more factories and production lines are introduced the nature of costs shifts more towards the ongoing manufacturing of the product the burden of those expenditures diminishes as it becomes easier for the company to repeat and replicate its operations eventually the company will experience constant returns to scale as it pushes closer to peak efficiency cost of acquisition for raw materials can be reduced by making such purchases in increasingly growing quantities furthermore the processes the company uses to make its product can become more stable and streamlined as it develops a rhythm and pace for its production flow if the company continues to scale up production it will reach the part of the curve where diseconomies of scale become a factor and costs rise though a company might streamline operations it might see new layers of bureaucracy and management introduced which can slow overall production and decision making the more the operation grows at this stage the costs will rise as the operation loses efficiency example of long run average total costfor example in the video game industry the costs to produce a game are high however the cost of making copies of a game once produced is marginal so once a company can establish itself expand the customer base for a specific game and raise demand for that game the extra output required to meet that demand lowers overall cost in the long run 