CAS EC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Technological Change, Marginal Product, Technology Transfer

56 views4 pages

erintrout397

2 May 2016

School

Department

Course

Professor

For unlimited access to Class Notes, a Class+ subscription is required.

crimsonantelope381 and 36670 others unlocked

CAS EC 102 Full Course Notes

Verified Note

6 documents

Document Summary

3: the per labor hour production function (review, new growth theory, convergence: Another implication of diminishing marginal product of capital. The relationship between real gdp per hour worked and capital per hour worked, holding the level of technology constant. If workers have little k, giving them more increases their productivity a lot. But if you get better more efficient machines. If workers already have a lot of k, giving them more increases productivity fairly little. Marginal goes up a little less each time. Per worker function : giving more same kind of machines you get diminishing marginal returns. With the same dollar amount worth of better capital, they can produce much more units. As technology improves over time, and more capital, they will have more productivity, and production function keeps shifting up. Causes the per worker production function to shift up. How do you get around the diminishing marginal capital: technological improvement and change.

Related Questions

Consider an economy with the following production function:

Y = AK.5L.5
The labor force is constant. The rate of depreciation is Î´ = .1, the savings rate is s = .3.

a. Has this production function constant returns to scale? Why?

b. Write the production function in per worker variables.

c. Does the per worker production function have diminishing marginal returns to capital? Why?

d. Write the fundamental Solow equation in per worker variables.

e. Depict the steady state of this economy.

f. What are the growth rates of per worker output and capital in steady state?

g. Calculate the steady state level of capital, output, consumption and savings.

h. Redraw the initial equilibrium and show what happens when the savings rate increases. Do the growth

rates change?

i. Redraw the initial equilibrium and show what happens when there is a one time increase in population.

. Do the growth rates change?

j. Redraw the initial equilibrium and show what happens when there is a one time innovation that increases

productivity. Do the growth rates change?

k. Redraw the initial equilibrium and show what happens when there is constant productivity growth. Do

the growth rates change?

Suppose the process of producing lightweight parkas by Polly's Parkas is described by the function:

q = 40K^0.6 (L-40)^0.4

where q is the number of parkas produced, K the number of computerized stitching-machine hours, and L the number of person-hours of labor. In addition to capital and labor, $10 worth of raw materials are used in the production of each parka.

Note that Eq/EK = 40(0.6) K ^-0.40 (L-40)^0.4 and Eq/EL = 40K ^0.6 (0.4) (L-40) ^-0.60

By minimizing cost subject to the production function, derive the cost-minimizing demands for K and L as a function of output (q), wage rates (w), and rental rates of machines (r).

The cost-minimizing demands for K and L are:

Use these results to derive the total cost function: that is, costs as a function of q, r, w, and the constant $10 per unit materials cost. The total cost function (TC) is:

2. This process requires skilled workers, who earn $64 per hour. The rental rate on the machines used in the process is $16 per hour. At these factor prices, what are total costs as a function of q.

Total costs (TC) are:

Does the technology exhibit decreasing, constant, or increasing returns to scale?

3. Polly's Parkas plans to produce 2000 parkas per week. At the factor prices given above, how many workers should the firm hire (at 40 hours per week) and how many machines should it rent?

The firm should use ___ worker hours.

The firm should use ___ machine hours.

What are the marginal and average costs at this level of production?

Marginal cost is $___ per unit of output.

Average cost is $___ .

bronzehornet861

Question 3

According to Joseph Schumpeter, the theory of creative destruction describes a process by which

	A	some new products unleash a gale of destruction that drive other new products out of the market.
B		new products unleash a gale of destruction that drives old products out of the market.
C		new products are created by the destruction of capital.
D		the creation of new products never involves the destruction of old products.

Question 4

Which of the following countries had the highest GDP per capita in 2012?

		A Qatar
B		United States
C		Japan
D		Norway

Question 5

________ save a ________ of their income. This ________ capital in their economy and raises economic growth.

	A	Developing countries; large proportion; decreases
B		Developing countries; small proportion; increases
C		High-income countries; large proportion; increases
D		High-income countries; small proportion; increases

Question 6

The demand for loanable funds is determined by the willingness of ________ to borrow money to engage in new investment projects.

A		government
B		households
C		banks
D		firms

Question 7

The U.S. economy has been more stable since 1950.

True

False

Question 8

When the economy reaches a trough in a business cycle, which of the following will occur?

A		Income, production, and employment will continue to fall.
B		Income, production, and employment will begin to rise.
C		Income and production will rise, but employment will continue to fall.
D		Employment rises, but income and production will continue to fall.

Question 9

In a closed economy, what is the relationship between saving and investment?

A		Saving is greater than investment.
B		Investment is greater than saving.
C		Investment is equal to saving.
D		Investment may be greater or smaller than saving.

Question 10

The per-worker production function shows the relationship between ________ per hour worked and ________ per hour worked, holding ________ constant.

A		labor; real GDP; technology
B		capital; real GDP; technology
C		labor; capital; real GDP
D		capital; labor; real GDP

Question 11

New growth theory states that increases in ________ capital will result in ________ at the ________ level.

	A	knowledge; increasing returns to scale; firm
	B	physical; decreasing returns to scale; firm
	C	knowledge; decreasing returns to scale; economy
D		knowledge; increasing returns to scale; economy

Question 12

Which of the following is not a reason why the Industrial Revolution occurred when and where it did?

A		The British government was committed to upholding private property rights.
B		The British government was able to eliminate arbitrary increases in taxes.
C		The British government was able to more easily seize wealth.
D		Institutional changes by the British government helped protect wealth.

Question 13

Growth in real GDP per capita for the world economy was greatest during

A		the seventeenth century.
B		the eighteenth century.
C		the nineteenth century.
D		the twentieth century.

Question 14

Which of the following is a normative statement about economic growth?

A		Economic growth is associated with higher labor productivity growth.
B		Economic growth increases GDP per capita.
C		Economic growth hurts developing countries.
D		Foreign direct investment stimulates economic growth.

Question 15

The effect of a recession on a company like Whirlpool Corporation is such that

A		sales decline more sharply for Whirlpool as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
B		profits fall less sharply as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
C		the decline in sales is more short-lived as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.
D		there is no difference in the impact of the recession on its profits as compared to firms that do not produce durable goods.

Question 16

For the recessions in the United States since the 1950s,

A		cyclical unemployment has been non-existent.
B		unemployment rises on average by about 1.2 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.
C		unemployment falls on average by 2 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.
D		unemployment rises on average about 5 percentage points 12 months after a recession begins.

Question 17

You are an economic advisor to the president. You are asked to recommend a policy to promote long-term economic growth in the economy. Which of the following policies would you choose?

A		a reduction in sales taxes
B		an investment tax credit
C		a reduction in taxes on luxury yachts
D		All of these

Question 18

In comparison to a government that runs a balanced budget, when the government runs a budget deficit,

	A	the equilibrium interest rate will fall.
	B	business investment will fall.
	C	household savings will fall.
	D	None of these

Question 19

If labor productivity growth slows down in a country, this means that the growth rate in ________ has declined.

A		labor force participation
B		the quantity of goods or services that can be produced by one hour of work
C		the working-age population
D		nominal GDP

Question 20

Policies to promote growth by increasing saving and investment work through

A		decreasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.
B		increasing the supply of loanable funds, increasing the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.
C		increasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, lowering the level of investment in physical capital.
D		increasing the supply of loanable funds, lowering the interest rate, raising the level of investment in physical capital.

CAS EC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Technological Change, Marginal Product, Technology Transfer

CAS EC 102 Full Course Notes

Document Summary

Get access

Related Documents

CAS EC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Knowledge Management, Technology Transfer, Marginal Product

CAS EC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Marginal Product, Absolute Convergence, Longrun

CAS EC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Diminishing Returns, Knowledge Management, Graph Of A Function

Related Questions