Two firms, A and B, both produce widgets. The price of widgets is $1 each. Firm A has total fixed costs of $500,000 and variable costs of 50¢ per widget. Firm B has total fixed costs of $240,000 and variable costs of 75¢ per widget. The corporate tax rate is 40%. If the economy is strong, each firm will sell 1,200,000 widgets. If the economy enters a recession, each firm will sell 1,100,000 widgets. Calculate firm A's degree of operating leverage Select one: a) 11.0 b) 2.86 c) 9.09 d) 1.00.

A) 11

Explanation:

The degree of operating leverage measures change in earning before interest and tax (EBIT) to change in sales.

Solution:

Formula

DOL = Percentage change in EBIT / Percentage change in sales

Percentage Change in EBIT = EBIT (1) / EBIT (2) - 1

Percentage Change in Sales = Sales (1) / Sales (2) - 1

Strong economic Condition

Sales = $1 Price x 1,200,000 units = $1,200,000

Variable Cost (VC) = $0.5 variable cost x 1,200,000 units = $600,000

Fixed cost (FC) = $500,000

EBIT = Sales - VC - FC

EBIT = $1,200,000 - $600,000 - $500,000

EBIT = $100,000

Weak economic Condition

Sales = $1 Price x 1,100,000 units = $1,100,000

Variable Cost (VC) = $0.5 variable cost x 1,100,000 units = $550,000

Fixed cost (FC) = $500,000

EBIT = Sales - VC - FC

EBIT = $1,100,000 - $550,000 - $500,000

EBIT = $50,000

Solving for DOL:

Percentage Change in EBIT = $100,000/50,000 - 1

Percentage Change in EBIT = 100%

Percentage Change in Sales = $1,200,000/1,100,000 - 1

Percentage Change in Sales = 9.09%

Now, using the above mentioned formula we can calculate DOL:

DOL = 100% / 9.09% - 1 = 11x