2. Inputs and outputs
Juanita's Performance Pizza is a small restaurant in Miami that sells gluten-free pizzas. Juanita's very tiny kitchen has barely enough room for the four ovens in which her workers bake the pizzas. Juanita signed a lease obligating her to pay the rent for the four ovens for the next year. Because of this, and because Juanita's kitchen cannot fit more than four ovens, Juanita cannot change the number of ovens she uses in her production of pizzas in the short run.
However, Juanita's decision regarding how many workers to use can vary from week to week because her workers tend to be students. Each Monday, Juanita lets them know how many workers she needs for each day of the week. In the short run, these workers are (variable/fixed) inputs, and the ovens are (variable/fixed) inputs.
Juanita's daily production schedule is presented in the following table.
Fill in the blanks to complete the Marginal Product of Labor column for each worker.
Number of Workers |
Output |
Marginal Product of Labor |
---|---|---|
(Pizzas) |
(Pizzas) |
|
0 | 0 | |
1 | 60 | |
2 | 100 | |
3 | 130 | |
4 | 150 | |
5 | 160 | |
On the following graph, plot Juanita's production function using the green points (triangle symbol).
Note: Plot your points in the order in which you would like them connected. Line segments will connect the points automatically.
Hint: Be sure to plot the first point at (0, 0).
Production Function012345200180160140120100806040200QUANTITY OF OUTPUT (Pizzas)LABOR HIRED (Number of workers)5, 160
Suppose that labor is Juanita's only variable cost and that she has a fixed cost of $20 per day and pays each of her workers $30 per day.
Use the orange points (square symbol) to plot Juanita's total cost curve on the following graph using the quantities from the preceding table.
Total Cost020406080100120140160180200200180160140120100806040200TOTAL COST (Dollars)QUANTITY OF OUTPUT (Pizzas)0, 20
The law of diminishing marginal product of labor is demonstrated by which of the following?
Total output declines as you increase the quantity of labor.
Total output increases at a decreasing rate as you increase the quantity of labor.
Total output increases only when you increase both labor and ovens.
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