MGEA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Lawn Mower, Marginal Cost, Marginal Product

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peachturtle345

19 Jan 2016

School

UTSC

Department

Economics for Management Studies

Course

MGEA02H3

Professor

Gordon Cleveland

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MGEA02H3 Full Course Notes

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Basic objective . understand diminishing marginal productivity and how this affects the shapes of typical cost curves in short run. Decisions by firms about how much to supply at a particular selling price are strongly related to the firms" costs. We assume that the objective of each firm is to maximize profit! Firms hire labour and purchase (or rent) capital equipment and other inputs. These inputs are combined together to produce output. Output is sold to earn a profit (or loss . ) Start by looking at short-run costs, when it is not feasible to increase all inputs at once i. e. , when amount of capital equipment is fixed. A simple story to motivate what this week is all about: Imagine that you and 4 other friends are in a lawn mowing business. You have only one lawnmower (fixed amount of capital). 1 worker + 1 lawnmower = 5 lawns per. 2 workers + 1 lawnmower = 9 lawns per.

Related Questions

Question:

Is it true that in a short-run production process, the marginal cost curve eventually slopes upward because firms have to pay workers a higher wage rate as they produce more output? Explain your answer.

Answer:

According to the definition of the short-run in Investopedia, the short-run, in economics, expresses the concept that an economy behaves differently depending on the length of time it has to react to certain stimuli. The short-run does not refer to a specific duration of time but rather is unique to the firm, industry, or economic variable being studied. A key principle guiding the concept of short-run and long-run is that in the short-run, firms face both variable and fixed costs, which means that output, wages and prices do not have full freedom to reach a new equilibrium. Most businesses make decisions not only about how many workers to employ at any given point in time (i.e. the amount of labor) but also about what scale of an operation (i.e. size of factory, office, etc.) to put together and what production processes to use. In contrast, economists often define the short-run as the time horizon over which the scale of operation is fixed and the only available business decision is the number of workers to employ. Technically, the short-run could also represent a situation where the amount of labor is fixed and the amount of capital is variable, but this is fairly uncommon. The logic is that even taking various labor laws as given, it's usually easier to hire and fire workers than it is to significantly change a major production process or move to a new size of factory or office. In the short-run, one factor of production is fixed, e.g. capital. This means that if a firm wants to increase output, it could employ more workers, but not increase capital in the short-run (it takes time to expand.) Therefore in the short-run, we can get diminishing marginal returns, and marginal costs may start to increase quickly. Also, in the short-run, we can see prices and wages out of equilibrium, e.g. sudden rise in demand, may lead to higher prices, but firms don't have the capacity to respond and increase supply.

Tejvan Pettinger. (2015). Short-run, long-run, very long-run. Glossary Terms. Economics help blog. NY: Helping to Simplify Economic.
Retrieved from: http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/short-run-long-run-very-long-run/
Short-Run. Short-Run Definition | Investopedia
Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortrun.asp#ixzz4KO1YXsri

I need a peer reply for this, please.

taupeswan96

1- All of the following statements apply to a purely competitive market in the long run, except:

A- In the long run, all inputs are variable in quantity.

B- Firms can expand their plant capacities in the long run.

C- Total fixed costs remain constant even when output expands in the long run.

D- Firms may enter or leave the industry in the long run.

2- Which of the following is true of normal profits?

A- They are necessary to keep a firm in the industry in the long run

B- They are zero under pure competition in the long run

C- They are excluded from a firm's costs of production

D- They are what attract other firms to enter an industry

3- -The long-run supply curve would be perfectly elastic when:

A- An increase in demand does not cause a change in product price

B- An increase in demand causes an increase in product price

C- A decrease in demand causes an increase in short-run supply

D- A decrease in demand causes an increase in product price

4- What happens in a decreasing-cost industry when some firms leave and the industry's output contracts?

A- The average cost will increase

B- The average cost will decrease

D- The total cost will decrease

C- The product price will decrease

5- Which of the following statements about a competitive firm is correct?

A-To maximize profits a competitive firm should produce at that output at which total revenue is greatest

B- In long-run equilibrium a competitive firm will produce at the point of minimum average costs

C- A competitive firm will produce in the short run so long as total receipts are sufficient to cover total fixed costs

D-A competitive firm will close down in the short run whenever price is less than the minimum attainable average total cost

6- When there is allocative efficiency in a purely competitive market for a product, the minimum price producers are willing to accept is:

A- Less than marginal benefit

B- Greater than marginal cost

C- Equal to the amount of efficiency or deadweight losses

D- Equal to the maximum price consumers are willing to pay

7- A patent is the legal right granted to a firm that allows it to:

A- Make copies of other firm's products

B- Be the sole buyer of a particular product or resource

C- Sell its new product exclusively for a set number of years

D- Be the exclusive distributor of a particular imported product

coffeeyellowjacket176

For each of the following assertions, please indicate whether they are true or false. No credit will be given without an explanation as to why your claim is correct.

(a) (4 points) There are two firms: one has production function f (K, L) = K + L and the other has production function f?(K,L) = (K+L)2 ?50. Assertion: These two firms have the same shaped isoquants, but different technology.

(b) (4 points) Assertion: In the short run, if the marginal product of labor curve is decreasing, then it is below the average product of labor curve.

(c) (4 points) A T-shirt company can make 1000 T-shirts with 2 workers and 1 machine. It continues to make 1000 T-shirts if it has more than 2 workers but only 1 machine or 2 workers and more than 1 machine. The company currently produces 1000 shirts per month for its single customer. The price of capital falls, but the firm must still produce 1000 shirts per month. Let all inputs be variable. Assertion: The firm will not hire or fire any workers.

(d) (4 points) A technology firm has a Cobb Douglas production function and measures the marginal rate of technical substitution (MRTSLK) at MPL/MPK = 3. The prices of labor and capital faced by the firm are such that currently W/R = 2. Assertion: The tech firm can lower costs (holding output fixed) by laying off some of its labor force and using more capital.

MGEA02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Lawn Mower, Marginal Cost, Marginal Product

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