The diagram on the left shows the Marginal Cost curve. Why does it slope downwards and then upwards?If the marginal cost is rising then surely the cost of supply is rising so why do firms supply more if the price rises as the marginal cost is clearly rising?
A marginal cost that graphically represents the relation between marginal cost incurred by a firm in the short-run product of a good or service and the quantity of output produced. This curve is constructed to capture the relation between marginal cost and the level of output, holding other variables, like technology and resource prices, constant. The marginal cost curve is U-shaped. Marginal cost is relatively high at small quantities of output, then as production increases, declines, reaches a minimum value, then rises. The marginal cost is shown in relation to marginal revenue, the incremental amount of sales that an additional product or service will bring to the firm. This shape of the marginal cost curve is directly attributable to increasing, then decreasing marginal returns (and the law of diminishing marginal returns - Diminishing returns).
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