A monopsonistic firm, as compares to a perfectly competitive firm, pays _____ wage and hires _____ labor.

In order to compare the wage and labor hired by a monopsonistic firm and a perfectly competitive firm, we need to understand the characteristics of each market structure.

A perfectly competitive firm is one that operates in an industry where there are many buyers and sellers, and no single firm has the power to influence the market price. In this type of market, there are numerous firms competing to hire labor, and workers have many employment options. As a result, the wage paid by a perfectly competitive firm tends to be determined by the equilibrium of supply and demand for labor, and the firm hires the quantity of labor that maximizes its profit given this wage.

On the other hand, a monopsonistic firm is the sole buyer of labor in a market. This means that there is only one firm that hires labor, and it has the power to influence the market wage. The firm faces an upward-sloping supply curve of labor, meaning that as it hires more workers, it must offer a higher wage to attract additional workers. As a result, a monopsonistic firm pays a lower wage than a perfectly competitive firm and hires less labor.

Therefore, to answer your question, a monopsonistic firm pays a lower wage and hires less labor compared to a perfectly competitive firm.