CHAPTER 6PRODUCTION QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 1.What is a production function?How does a long-run production function differ from a short-run production function? A production function represents how inputs are transformed into outputs by firm.We focu on the firm with one output and aggregate all inputs or factorso production into one of several categories such as labor,capital,and materials.In the short run,one or more factors of production cannot be changed.As time goes by, the firm has the opportunity to change the levels of all inputs.In the long-run production variable. 2.Why is the marginal produet of labor likely to inerease initially in the short run as more of the variable input is hired? The marginal product of labor is likely to increase initially because when there are more workers,each is able to specialize on an aspect of the production process in which he or she is particularly skilled.For example,think of the typical fast food restaurant. If there is only one worker,he will need to prepare the burgers,fries,and sodas,as well can be served in an hour.With twoor able to specialize and the marginal product(number of customers served per hour)is likely to increase as we move from one to two to three workers. Eventually,there will be enough workers and there will be no more gains from specialization.At this point,the marginal product will diminish. 3.Why does production eventually experience diminishing marginal returns to labor in the short run? The marginal product of labor will eventually diminish because there will be at least one fixed f actor of production,suc as capital With capital the workpl ce will eventually become so congested,that the productivity of additional workers will decline.Also,with capital fixed,as more workers are added,they will need to share the fixed capital,which will eventually cause the marginal product of labor to diminish htoo miny workers Think forexample of anoffce where m0 e employees computers,the marginal product of each additional employee will diminish. 4.You are an employer seeking to fill a vacant position on an assembly line Are you more concerned with the average product of labor or the marginal produet of labor for the last person hired?If you observe that your average product is just beginning to decline,should you hire any more workers?What does this situation imply about the marginal product of your last worker hired? In filling a vacant with the marginal product of the last worker hired because the marginal product measures the effecton output. or total product,of hiring another worker.This in turn will help to determine theCHAPTER 6PRODUCTION 一、QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 1. What is a production function? How does a long-run production function differ from a short-run production function? A production function represents how inputs are transformed into outputs by a firm. We focus on the firm with one output and aggregate all inputs or factors of production into one of several categories, such as labor, capital, and materials. In the short run, one or more factors of production cannot be changed. As time goes by, the firm has the opportunity to change the levels of all inputs. In the long-run production function, all inputs are variable. 2. Why is the marginal product of labor likely to increase initially in the short run as more of the variable input is hired? The marginal product of labor is likely to increase initially because when there are more workers, each is able to specialize on an aspect of the production process in which he or she is particularly skilled. For example, think of the typical fast food restaurant. If there is only one worker, he will need to prepare the burgers, fries, and sodas, as well as take the orders. Only so many customers can be served in an hour. With two or three workers, each is able to specialize and the marginal product (number of customers served per hour) is likely to increase as we move from one to two to three workers. Eventually, there will be enough workers and there will be no more gains from specialization. At this point, the marginal product will diminish. 3. Why does production eventually experience diminishing marginal returns to labor in the short run? The marginal product of labor will eventually diminish because there will be at least one fixed factor of production, such as capital. With capital fixed, the workplace will eventually become so congested, that the productivity of additional workers will decline. Also, with capital fixed, as more workers are added, they will need to share the fixed capital, which will eventually cause the marginal product of labor to diminish as the capital is spread across too many workers. Think for example of an office where there are only three computers. As more and more employees must share the computers, the marginal product of each additional employee will diminish. 4. You are an employer seeking to fill a vacant position on an assembly line. Are you more concerned with the average product of labor or the marginal product of labor for the last person hired? If you observe that your average product is just beginning to decline, should you hire any more workers? What does this situation imply about the marginal product of your last worker hired? In filling a vacant position, you should be concerned with the marginal product of the last worker hired because the marginal product measures the effect on output, or total product, of hiring another worker. This in turn will help to determine the