ECON 305 Chapter Notes -Marginal Product, Real Wages, Demand Curve

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emeraldcrab303

11 Mar 2014

School

University of Maryland

Department

Economics

Course

ECON 305

Professor

Dr.Neri

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Document Summary

National income: where it all comes from and where it goes. Factors of production: inputs used to produce goods and services. Capital: set of tools that workers use (k) Both are fixed (bar over) and none wasted. Production function: shows how the quantities of fop"s determine the quantity of goods and services produced. Output is a function of the amount of capital and labor. Available technology for turning capital and labor into output. Constant returns to scale: an increase of an equal percentage in all fop"s causes an increase in output of the same percentage. zy = f ( zk , zl) Factor prices: amounts paid to the fop"s for labor and capital they are wages and rent. Competitive firm: small relative to the markets in which it trades, so it has little influence on the market prices. Uses market prices because otherwise they would go out of business from other firms.

Related Questions

Consider the following technology F(K, L) = (AK^?)(L^(1??)) where K is the level of capital, L is the level of labor or hours worked, A is an efficiency parameter, and ? ? (0, 1) (a) Write down the firms problem in the long-run. Note the price for capital and labor are respectively, r and w. (Normalize the price of output to be 1 so that w and rare in real terms). (b) Does this production function depict a constant return to scale? Prove it. (c) What are the marginal productivities of capital and labor? Are they decreasing in each factor? (d) What are the labor share and capital share of output? Remember the share of a factor is calculated as the compensation of that factor divided by the total output. Show it.

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According to estimates presented in the textbook, which of the following factors made the smallest contribution to U.S. growth between 1928 and 1997?

A) Technology.
B) Human capital.
C) Physical capital.
D) Labor.

According to economist Hernando DeSoto, the lack of formal property rights in many poor countries limits economic growth because informal property rights:

A) lead to excessive investment in physical, social, and human capital.
B) limit the amount that businesses and households can borrow.
C) result in excessive government regulation.
D) decrease the labor force participation rate.

The theory of convergence depends on the assumption that:

A) population growth falls to replacement levels in all nations.
B) factors of production are mobile across borders.
C) technological advancement slows.
D) production functions have constant returns to scale.

The surge in foreign direct investment experienced by China and India in the early 2000s can best be explained by:

A) their higher marginal productivity of capital, which leads to lower production costs.
B) their lower marginal productivity of capital, which leads to lower production costs.
C) the limits they impose on factor mobility.
D) technological agglomeration.

The idea behind Say's Law is that people work because:

A) they like to work.
B) they want to buy things.
C) they want to accumulate wealth.
D) work gives them social status.

People's knowledge is a type of capital, called human capital.

A) True
B) False

The law of diminishing marginal productivity applies whenever:

A) output is increased.
B) all inputs are increased.
C) only one input is increased.
D) decreasing returns to scale are present.

13.

The theory of convergence argues that poor nations should, if they pursue the right policies,

A) grow at the same rate as rich nations.
B) grow faster than rich nations.
C) develop the same social-welfare structures as rich nations.
D) stop their exploitation by the rich nations.

14.

If increasing returns to scale exist, then an increase in output of exactly 3 percent is most likely to be produced by:

A) a decrease in all inputs of 3 percent.
B) an increase in all inputs of less than 3 percent.
C) an increase in all inputs of 3 percent.
D) an increase in all inputs of more than 3 percent.

15.

The production function is best represented in the following form:

A) Output = A.
B) Output = f(Labor, Capital, Land).
C) Output = A%u2022f(Labor, Capital, Land).
D) Output = [A%u2022f(Labor, Capital, Land)]^b.

16.

The effect of economic growth generally has been to make:

A) the poor poorer and the rich richer.
B) the poor richer and the rich poorer.
C) all income levels richer.
D) the rich richer but not affect the poor.

Scale economies describe what happens to output when:

A) one input changes.
B) all inputs change by the same percentage.
C) technology changes.
D) institutions change.

The law of eventually diminishing marginal returns: (Points : 1)

a. states that each and every increase in the amount of the variable factor employed in the production process will yield diminishing marginal returns.
b. is a mathematical theorem that can be logically proved or disproved
c. is the rate at which one input may be substituted for another input in the production process
d. None of the above

The marginal product is defined as: (Points : 1)

a. the ratio of total output to the amount of the variable input used in producing the output
b. the incremental change in total output that can be produced by the use of one more unit of the variable input in the production process
c. the percentage change in output resulting from a given percentage change in the amount of the variable input X employed in the production process with Y
d. None of the above

The rate at which one input X may be substituted for another input Y in a production process, while total output remains constant, is: (Points : 1)

a. the slope of the isoquant curve
b. the marginal rate of technical substitution

c. equal to MPx/MPy

d. all of the above
e. none of the above

Marginal revenue product is: (Points : 1)

a. defined as the amount that an additional unit of the variable input adds to the total revenue
b. equal to the marginal factor cost of the variable factor times the marginal revenue resulting from the increase in output obtained
c. equal to the marginal product of the variable factor times the marginal product resulting from the increase in output obtained
d. a and b
e. a and c

Marginal factor cost is defined as the amount that an additional unit of the variable unit of the variable input adds to ____________. (Points : 1)

a. marginal cost
b. variable cost
c. marginal rate of technical substitution
d. total cost
e. none of the above

In the Cobb-Douglas production function Q=aL^?1.K^?2 ______________. (Points : 1)

a. the marginal product of labor (L) is equal to ?1
b. the average product of labor (L) is equal to ?2
c. if the amount of labor input (L) is increased by 1 percent, then output will increase by ?1 percent
d. a and b
e. a and c