LABOR ECONOMICS
8th Edition
ISBN: 9781260004724
Author: BORJAS
Publisher: RENT MCG
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Question
Chapter 11, Problem 1P
To determine
Identify how the workers sort themselves across firms, if the output reduces.
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionStudents have asked these similar questions
Consider the Labor Economics Question. This will provide insight into the idea of the optimal number of workers and the value of the marginal product of labor.
If wages in the restaurant is $16.80 per hour and the price of a Hamburger is $8.30 and the production function for the workers is:
Q = 11L – 0.25L2
How many workers should Your Restaurant employ during the lunch hour to maximize profits? 1 Point
(note—the value of the marginal product of labor and the marginal revenue product are the same)
We maximize profits which are total revenues less total costs:
Suppose there are 100 workers in an economy with two firms. All workers are worth $35 per hour to firm A but differ in their productivity at firm B. Worker 1 has a value of marginal product of $1 per hour at firm B, worker 2 has a value of marginal product of $2 per hour at firm B, and so on. Firm A pays its workers a time-rate of $35 per hour, while firm B pays its workers a piece rate. How will the workers sort themselves across firms? Suppose a decrease in demand for both firms’ output reduces the value of every worker to either firm by half. How will workers now sort themselves across firms?
A country can produce two goods, X and Y. The maximum possible output
of X is 200 and the maximum possible output of Y is 300. If the marginal
product of labor in X is 4, what is the marginal product of labor in Y?
Knowledge Booster
Similar questions
- Suppose that a car dealership wishes to see if efficiency wages will help improve its salespeople's productivity. Currently, each salesperson sells an average of 1 car per day while being paid $24 per hour for an 8-hour day. Instructions: Enter your answers as a whole number. a. What is the current labor cost per car sold? $ b. Suppose that when the dealer raises the price of labor to $34 per hour, the average number of cars sold by a salesperson increases to 2 per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold? 2$ By how much is it higher or lower than it was before? |(Click to select) ♥|by $ Has the efficiency of labor expenditures by the firm (cars sold per dollar of wages paid to salespeople) increased or decreased? (Click to select) V c. Suppose that if the wage is raised a second time to $46 per hour, the number of cars sold rises to an average of 2.5 per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold? $ d. If the firm's goal is to maximize the efficiency of its labor expenditures,…arrow_forward"If the wage rate paid to one form of labor is twice the cost of another form of labor, the first type of labor must be twice as productive."arrow_forwardThe following table shows different combinations of labor and capital that can produce 400 units of output. The 3rd and 4th columns give the marginal products of labor and capital at each input combination. Suppose the wage rate is w=$1 and the price of capital is r = $5, what is the optimal input combination that produces 400 units at lowest cost? Marginal Marginal Product of Product of Labor Capital Labor Capital 10 2 80 400 2 10 400 80 4 5 200 160 5 4 160 200 Select an answer and submit. For keyboard navigation, use the up/down arrow keys to select an answer. a L=10, K=2 b L=2, K=10 C L=4, K=5 d L=5, K=4arrow_forward
- Suppose that a car dealership wishes to see if efficiency wages will help improve its salespeople's productivity. Currently, each salesperson sells an average of 1 car per day while being paid $24 per hour for an 8-hour day. Instructions: Enter your answers as a whole number. a. What is the current labor cost per car sold? b. Suppose that when the dealer raises the price of labor to $34 per hour, the average number of cars sold by a salesperson increases to 2 per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold? By how much is it higher or lower than it was before? (Click to select) by $ Has the efficiency of labor expenditures by the firm (cars sold per dollar of wages paid to salespeople) increased or decreased? (Click to select) c. Suppose that if the wage is raised a second time to $46 per hour, the number of cars sold rises to an average of 2.5 per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold? d. If the firm's goal is to maximize the efficiency of its labor expenditures, which of the…arrow_forwardFollowing is information on the production levels of three different firms. Firm A is currentlyproducing at a quantity where it is experiencing increasing returns. Firm B is currentlyproducing at a quantity where it is experiencing diminishing returns. Firm C is currentlyproducing at a quantity where it is experiencing negative returns.a. If each of the firms cut back on its labor force, what will happen to its marginalproduct of labor? And why?b. If each of the firms adds to its labor force, what will happen to its marginal product oflabor? And why?arrow_forwardSuppose Charles owns a lawn mowing company, Assume that without workers, no yards are mowed. When he hires one worker, he is able to mow 3 yards per day. With two workers, he can mow 7 yards per day, and with three workers, he can mow 12 yards per day The marginal product of the first worker is yards per day The marginal product of the second worker yards per day.arrow_forward
- In a certain country, output is produced using only labor and land. The production function is Y=AXªL1-a where Y is output, X is the quantity of land, and Lis the quantity of labor. Factors of production are paid their marginal products. In this country there are 100 acres of land and 30 workers. Land earns a rent of $4,000 per acre per year. Workers are paid a wage of $10 per hour, and work 2,000 hours per year. What is the value of a?arrow_forwardMark's coffee shop has the production function, q=4K0.5L0.5. If the price of labor, L, is 5 and the price of a machine, K, is 20, then, to minimize the cost of producing q=200 cups of coffee: a. Joe will employ L*= __________ workers. b. Joe will use K*= _________ machines. c. The total cost will be _________.arrow_forwardConsider Live Happley Fields, a small player in the strawberry business whose production has no individual effect on wages and prices. Live Happley's production schedule for strawberries is given in the following table: Labor Output (Number of workers) (Pounds of strawberries) 1 18 34 3 48 4 60 70 Suppose that the market wage for strawberry pickers is $170 per worker per day, and the price of strawberries is $12 per pound. On the following graph, use the blue points (circle symbol) to plot Live Happley's labor demand curve when the output price is $12 per pound. Note: Remember to plot each point between the two integers. For example, when the number of workers increases from 0 to 1, the value of the marginal product of for the first worker should be plotted with a horizontal coordinate of 0.5, the value halfway between 0 and 1. Line segments will automatically connect the points. Demand P=$12 210 Demand P=$16 190 120 20 LABOR (Number of workera) ueuoM Jad seyog) 3oVarrow_forward
- Suppose that Zamboni Enterprises is the only company that sells zambonis (ice resurfacing machines). To produce the machines, the company hires assembly workers. Since these workers can work in many different companies, Zamboni Enterprises must pay them the market wage, which is equal to $6. The number of zambonis that the company produces, which is denoted by y, is proportional to the number of assembly workers that it hires, which are denoted by N; in particular, the production function is given by y=0.76N. The economywide demand for zambonis is given by the following demand function: y=2191-219p, where y is the number of zambonis that consumers are willing to purchase at price p. Given this market structure, how many assembly workers will Zamboni Enterprises choose to hire? How many zambonis will Zamboni Enterprises produce and sell? What will be the price of a zamboni? If the market for zambonis were competitive, how many zambonis would be produced? If the market for…arrow_forwardSuppose that Zamboni Enterprises is the only company that sells zambonis (ice resurfacing machines). To produce the machines, the company hires assembly workers. Since these workers can work in many different companies, Zamboni Enterprises must pay them the market wage, which is equal to $6. The number of zambonis that the company produces, which is denoted by y, is proportional to the number of assembly workers that it hires, which are denoted by N; in particular, the production function is given by y=0.76N. The economywide demand for zambonis is given by the following demand function: y=2191-219p, where y is the number of zambonis that consumers are willing to purchase at price p. Given this market structure, how many assembly workers will Zamboni Enterprises choose to hire? How many zambonis will Zamboni Enterprises produce and sell?arrow_forwardSuppose that Zamboni Enterprises is the only company that sells zambonis (ice resurfacing machines). To produce the machines, the company hires assembly workers. Since these workers can work in many different companies, Zamboni Enterprises must pay them the market wage, which is equal to $6. The number of zambonis that the company produces, which is denoted by y, is proportional to the number of assembly workers that it hires, which are denoted by N; in particular, the production function is given by y=0.76N. The economywide demand for zambonis is given by the following demand function: y=2191-219p, where y is the number of zambonis that consumers are willing to purchase at price p. If the market for zambonis were competitive, how many zambonis would be produced? If the market for zambonis were competitive, how many assembly workers would be hired? If the market for zambonis were competitive, at what price would zambonis be sold?arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
- Economics: Private and Public Choice (MindTap Cou...EconomicsISBN:9781305506725Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. MacphersonPublisher:Cengage LearningMicroeconomics: Private and Public Choice (MindTa...EconomicsISBN:9781305506893Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. MacphersonPublisher:Cengage LearningPrinciples of Economics (MindTap Course List)EconomicsISBN:9781305585126Author:N. Gregory MankiwPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Principles of Economics, 7th Edition (MindTap Cou...EconomicsISBN:9781285165875Author:N. Gregory MankiwPublisher:Cengage Learning
Economics: Private and Public Choice (MindTap Cou...
Economics
ISBN:9781305506725
Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. Macpherson
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice (MindTa...
Economics
ISBN:9781305506893
Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. Macpherson
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Principles of Economics (MindTap Course List)
Economics
ISBN:9781305585126
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Principles of Economics, 7th Edition (MindTap Cou...
Economics
ISBN:9781285165875
Author:N. Gregory Mankiw
Publisher:Cengage Learning