ECO 2117 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Human Capital, Opportunity Cost, Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences

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20 Aug 2016

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ECO2117

March 17 2016

Human Capital: Education

-recap: how are education, health, and income related?

-good health and education are both means and ends of development

-mean: they enable absorption of new knowledge, rationalization of production processes

and thereby increases productivity (human capital)

-end: both are key factors in expanding capabilities and are thereby closely related to

wellbeing

-increases in income do not guarantee improvements in education or health

-positive effects of education and health on some healthy and educated individuals spill

over on the rest of society

-investments in health and education are integral parts of development policy

-the human capital approach: human capital enhances individuals’ capacities to produce

-human capital is a factor of production (is a means of production)

-leads to higher utility/satisfaction through its positive inﬂuence on income

-accumulating human capital is an investment

-this approach informs public and private investment decisions in health and education

-human capital approach: intuition

-a household or person decides how long to stay in school

-direct costs: tuition, books, transport

-opportunity cost of time: less or no income earned while in school

-beneﬁt: more schooling results in better job

-a person stays in school as long as the beneﬁts are higher than the costs

-private returns to education formula:

-et = income with education

-nt = income without (extra) education

-i = interest/discount rate

-t = time period

-E = sum of all time periods

-efﬁciency reasons for public investments in health and education

-positive externalities: improved human capital has beneﬁts beyond the individual; even

richer families may underinvest

-underinvestment by poor families due to credit constraints and daily struggle for survival

-the education system in a country is key determination of educational outcomes in the

population in terms of average levels and inequality

-there are two fundamental economic processes:

-interaction is between economically motivated demands and politically motivated supply

-distinction between social and private costs/beneﬁts

-demand: the derived demand for higher wage/better job opportunities in the modern sector

-supply: is determined by political processes and thus indirectly by voters (only this part of

demand has power to inﬂuence politicians)

-consequence: too large expansion of higher education places at the cost pf primary and

secondary education

-process leading to mismatch in demand and supply:

-wage gap between traditional and modern sector

-more graduates than modern sector jobs

-employers upgrade job requirements

! of !1 2

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Document Summary

Good health and education are both means and ends of development. Mean: they enable absorption of new knowledge, rationalization of production processes and thereby increases productivity (human capital) End: both are key factors in expanding capabilities and are thereby closely related to wellbeing. Increases in income do not guarantee improvements in education or health. Positive effects of education and health on some healthy and educated individuals spill over on the rest of society. Investments in health and education are integral parts of development policy. The human capital approach: human capital enhances individuals" capacities to produce. Human capital is a factor of production (is a means of production) Leads to higher utility/satisfaction through its positive in uence on income. This approach informs public and private investment decisions in health and education. A household or person decides how long to stay in school. Opportunity cost of time: less or no income earned while in school.

Related Questions

QUESTION 1

Assume there are two basic goods produced in a nation, consumer goods and capital goods. The production possibilities graph for these two goods is bowed out from the origin. This reason for this shape of the graph is because of:

	A.	the other-things-equal assumption.
	B.	the law of increasing opportunity costs.
	C.	diminishing marginal utility.
	D.	present choices and future possibilities.

1 points

QUESTION 2

From an economic perspective, when a student decides to attend another year of college, the student has concluded that the:

	A.	marginal costs of attending college are reduced by the availability of grants and subsidies.
	B.	marginal benefits of attending college have increased because the future is brighter.
	C.	marginal benefits of attending college are greater than the marginal costs.
	D.	marginal costs of attending college have decreased to make college affordable.

1 points

QUESTION 3

A person observes that as consumer prices fall, economic growth increases. The person concludes that fall consumer prices leads to economic growth. This conclusion would be an example of:

	A.	confusing correlation with causation.
	B.	the fallacy of composition.
	C.	trade-offs among economic goals.
	D.	the other-things-equal assumption.

1 points

QUESTION 4

The problem of unlimited wants and limited income is known as

	A.	the scientific method.
	B.	unequal wealth distribution.
	C.	normative economics.
	D.	the economizing problem.

1 points

QUESTION 5

A point outside the production possibilities curve is:

	A.	unattainable without economic growth.
	B.	attainable and the economy is efficient.
	C.	unattainable without inflation.
	D.	attainable, but the economy is inefficient.

1 points

QUESTION 6

Which one of the following would be an example of loaded terminology?

	A.	market forces
	B.	tentative hypothesis
	C.	entrepreneurial functions
	D.	creeping socialism

1 points

QUESTION 7

Suppose there are two economies, Alpha and Beta, both of which have the same production possibilities curves. If Beta devotes more resources to produce investment goods than consumer goods as compared to Alpha, then in the future:

	A.	Alpha will not be able to achieve full employment.
	B.	Beta will not be able to achieve full employment.
	C.	Alpha will experience greater economic growth than Beta.
	D.	Beta will experience greater economic growth than Alpha.

1 points

QUESTION 8

Macroeconomics, as opposed to microeconomics, is concerned with

	A.	individual businesses.
	B.	new computer technology.
	C.	the stock market.
	D.	the economy as a whole.

1 points

QUESTION 9

Which one of the following is an example of a positive economic statement?

	A.	The size of the Federal government should be reduced.
	B.	Midwest states affected by drought should be given more federal disaster aid.
	C.	Education and income are highly correlated.
	D.	The minimum wage for workers should be raised to help low-income workers.

1 points

QUESTION 10

Economics is primarily concerned with

	A.	interactions between the government and market participants.
	B.	how scarce resources are used.
	C.	the production and distribution of capital goods.
	D.	how income is divided among individuals.

1 points

QUESTION 11

The production possibilities table below shows the hypothetical relationship between the production of guns (national defense) and butter (social goods) in an economy.

A B C D E

Guns 0 4 7 9 10

Butter 4 3 2 1 0

If the economy is producing at alternative C, what is the opportunity cost of producing another unit of butter?

	A.	3 units of guns.
	B.	1 units of guns.
	C.	2 units of guns.
	D.	4 units of guns.

1 points

QUESTION 12

Assume that a consumer can buy only two goods X and Y, and has an income of $120. The price of X is $10 and the price of Y is $20. If the consumer spends all of her money on X and Y, which of the following would be a possible combination:

	A.	4X and 2Y
	B.	5X and 3Y
	C.	6X and 3Y
	D.	8X and 1Y

1 points

QUESTION 13

In the production possibilities model of an economy, when there is full employment of resources

		a nation will be operating at an interior point within its production possibilities curve.
		a nation will be operating on the production possibilities curve.
		the production possibilities curve will shift outward to the right.
		the production possibilies curve will shift inward to the left.

1 points

QUESTION 14

In economics the concept that there is "no free lunch" means

	A.	scarce resources were used to produce these "free" goods so there is an opportunity cost to producing them.
	B.	consumers are irrational when they ask for a free lunch unless they can make the case that the free lunch benefits business.
	C.	the marginal cost of the "lunch" is greater than the marginal benefit.
	D.	businesses could not make a profit if they gave away free goods to consumers.

1 points

QUESTION 15

Assume that a consumer can only purchase two goods with her income. A straight-line budget constraint indicates that the opportunity cost of obtaining an additional unit of one good is:

	A.	negative.
	B.	constant.
	C.	increasing.
	D.	decreasing.

carmineferret43

QUESTION 1

	A.	the other-things-equal assumption.
	B.	the law of increasing opportunity costs.
	C.	diminishing marginal utility.
	D.	present choices and future possibilities.

1 points

QUESTION 2

From an economic perspective, when a student decides to attend another year of college, the student has concluded that the:

	A.	marginal costs of attending college are reduced by the availability of grants and subsidies.
	B.	marginal benefits of attending college have increased because the future is brighter.
	C.	marginal benefits of attending college are greater than the marginal costs.
	D.	marginal costs of attending college have decreased to make college affordable.

1 points

QUESTION 3

A person observes that as consumer prices fall, economic growth increases. The person concludes that fall consumer prices leads to economic growth. This conclusion would be an example of:

	A.	confusing correlation with causation.
	B.	the fallacy of composition.
	C.	trade-offs among economic goals.
	D.	the other-things-equal assumption.

1 points

QUESTION 4

The problem of unlimited wants and limited income is known as

	A.	the scientific method.
	B.	unequal wealth distribution.
	C.	normative economics.
	D.	the economizing problem.

1 points

QUESTION 5

A point outside the production possibilities curve is:

	A.	unattainable without economic growth.
	B.	attainable and the economy is efficient.
	C.	unattainable without inflation.
	D.	attainable, but the economy is inefficient.

1 points

QUESTION 6

Which one of the following would be an example of loaded terminology?

	A.	market forces
	B.	tentative hypothesis
	C.	entrepreneurial functions
	D.	creeping socialism

1 points

QUESTION 7

	A.	Alpha will not be able to achieve full employment.
	B.	Beta will not be able to achieve full employment.
	C.	Alpha will experience greater economic growth than Beta.
	D.	Beta will experience greater economic growth than Alpha.

1 points

QUESTION 8

Macroeconomics, as opposed to microeconomics, is concerned with

	A.	individual businesses.
	B.	new computer technology.
	C.	the stock market.
	D.	the economy as a whole.

1 points

QUESTION 9

Which one of the following is an example of a positive economic statement?

	A.	The size of the Federal government should be reduced.
	B.	Midwest states affected by drought should be given more federal disaster aid.
	C.	Education and income are highly correlated.
	D.	The minimum wage for workers should be raised to help low-income workers.

1 points

QUESTION 10

Economics is primarily concerned with

	A.	interactions between the government and market participants.
	B.	how scarce resources are used.
	C.	the production and distribution of capital goods.
	D.	how income is divided among individuals.

1 points

QUESTION 11

The production possibilities table below shows the hypothetical relationship between the production of guns (national defense) and butter (social goods) in an economy.

A B C D E

Guns 0 4 7 9 10

Butter 4 3 2 1 0

If the economy is producing at alternative C, what is the opportunity cost of producing another unit of butter?

	A.	3 units of guns.
	B.	1 units of guns.
	C.	2 units of guns.
	D.	4 units of guns.

1 points

QUESTION 12

	A.	4X and 2Y
	B.	5X and 3Y
	C.	6X and 3Y
	D.	8X and 1Y

1 points

QUESTION 13

In the production possibilities model of an economy, when there is full employment of resources

		a nation will be operating at an interior point within its production possibilities curve.
		a nation will be operating on the production possibilities curve.
		the production possibilities curve will shift outward to the right.
		the production possibilies curve will shift inward to the left.

1 points

QUESTION 14

In economics the concept that there is "no free lunch" means

	A.	scarce resources were used to produce these "free" goods so there is an opportunity cost to producing them.
	B.	consumers are irrational when they ask for a free lunch unless they can make the case that the free lunch benefits business.
	C.	the marginal cost of the "lunch" is greater than the marginal benefit.
	D.	businesses could not make a profit if they gave away free goods to consumers.

1 points

QUESTION 15

Assume that a consumer can only purchase two goods with her income. A straight-line budget constraint indicates that the opportunity cost of obtaining an additional unit of one good is:

	A.	negative.
	B.	constant.
	C.	increasing.
	D.	decreasing.

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ECO 2117 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Human Capital, Opportunity Cost, Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences

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