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

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amethystwhale496

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 ad 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.

beigejackal19

1. Due to the law of diminishing marginal utility, _____.

a. the marginal utility curve is upward sloping

b. when marginal utility becomes positive, total utility declines

c. when marginal utility becomes negative, total utility increases

d. marginal utility is zero when total utility is zero

e. the first unit of a product offers more satisfaction than the last unit of the same product

2. True or False. If a product has an elastic demand, it means that consumers are relatively insensitive to a change in the price of the product.

3. If one were to plot the data with utility on the vertical axis and quantity of the good on the horizontal axis:

a. the total utility curve would begin to decline after the second unit of the good.

b. the marginal utility curve would intersect the horizontal axis at the second unit of the good.

c. the total utility curve would rise from the first unit to the fifth unit.

d. the marginal utility curve would intersect the horizontal axis at the third unit of the good.

e. the marginal utility curve would begin to decline after the third unit of the good.

4. If the average variable cost of a firm is falling, then the:

a. marginal cost must be falling.

b. average fixed cost must be rising.

c. marginal cost lies below the average variable cost.

d. marginal cost must be rising.

e. marginal cost lies above the average variable cost.

5. According to economic theory, the difference between the long run and the short run is:

a. the ability for a firm to vary all resources

b. about two years

c. about two months

d. not relevant for executive decision-makers

e. strictly theoretical so that in practice there is no difference between them

jadefly405

ECON 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Diminishing Returns, Average Variable Cost, Average Cost

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