ECO100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Longrun, Marginal Product, Opportunity Cost

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cerisejackal239

7 Nov 2014

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In short run, marginal product(mp) of the variable factor eventually declines. Short run(there is a fixed factor of production): atc is u-shaped. Long run(no fixed factor): atc is not necessary u-shaped. 1. in long run, gm can bulid more workers to increase output law of diminishing returns applies. 2. in long run, gm can bulid more assemble plants as well as hire more workers. 2. 1 law of diminishing returns does not apply. 2. 2 mp does not necessarily fall after some point------>mc does not necessarily rise. 3. suppose firm doubles all input (a)output doubles(constant returns to scale)------>atc unchanged (b)output less than doubles (diseconomies of scale)------->atc increases (c)output more than doubles (economies of scale)------>atc falls. 4. assumes that costs of inputs------->such as wages for workers do not change when firm doubles all inputs(firms is a price taker) A firm produces its output with one variable factor(labour) and one fixed factor(capital). Mc of 1st unit: 200 (tc - tfc = 400 - 200 = mc)

Related Questions

36) A firm encountering economies of scale over some range of output will have a:

a) rising long-run average cost curve.

b) falling long-run average cost curve.

c) constant long-run average cost curve.

d) rising, then falling, then rising long-run average cost curve.

37) When a firm doubles its inputs and finds that its output has more than doubled, this is known as:

a) economies of scale.

b) constant returns to scale.

c) diseconomies of scale.

d) a violation of the law of diminishing returns.

38) The larger the diameter of a natural gas pipeline, the lower is the average total cost of transmitting 1,000 cubic feet of gas 1,000 miles. This is an example of:

a) economies of scale.

b) normative economies.

c) diminishing marginal returns.

d) an increasing marginal product of labor.

39) If all resources used in the production of a product are increased by 20 percent and output increases by 20 percent, then there must be:

a) economies of scale.

b) constant returns to scale.

c) diseconomies of scale.

d) increasing the average total costs.

40) Economies and diseconomies of scale explain why the:

a) short-run average fixed cost curve declines so long as output increases.

b) marginal cost curve must intersect the minimum point of the firm's average total cost curve.

c) long-run average total cost curve is typically U-shaped.

d) short-run average variable cost curve is U-shaped.

jadeshark411

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:

The marginal product of labor is the increase in output resulting from a one-unit increase in the amount of labor employed. In my own opinion, the statement can be true in the sense that, as the firm produces more and more the cost of production has to come down first; that becomes constant or minimum and then starts to increase. The marginal cost is also a U-shaped curve that first falls then reaches a minimum and starts rising. The reason for rising marginal costs in the short term will only be an increase in the wages as the only factor which is variable in the short-run is labor whereas all factors are kept fixed, so the fixed costs will keep coming down. If you increase labor, you are going to suffer from diminishing marginal returns. And in the long-run, one will suffer diminishing returns from both input factors, labor, and capital.

The short-run cost relationship between the marginal product of labor and the marginal cost, the labor is variable. We have already established that there are diminishing marginal returns because the labor decreases. To increase output in the short-run, a firm must increase the amount used of a variable input. The marginal product reduces, not because consecutive workers are lesser, but because more workers are being used relative to the amount of equipment that is available, what they have left to work with. An example; if a clinic has only one dentist on duty and several assistants are available and we have a lot of patients waiting to see that doctor, the number of patients served by this office cannot increase without limit. The excess assistants will not be able to increase the number of patients in the office, not because they are not reliable or good enough, but because they cannot perform the doctor's job, and there is only one doctor in the office.

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-marginal-cost-curve-slope-upwards

I need a peer reply for this.