a What is the slope of the isocost line when capital is on the vertical axis and labor on the horizontal axis and r is the cost of capital and w the cost of labor?
Answer a) Equation of isocost line
M=w.L+r.K
where, M= income, w=wage,L=Quantity of labor, r= rental rate, K= Quantity of capital
Slope of isocost line=∆K/∆L
0= w+ r.(∆K/∆L)
∆K/∆L= -(w/r)
Answer b) Slope of isoquant = Marginal rate of technical Substitution or MRTS
MRTS= Marginal product of labor/ Marginal product of capital
MRTS= MPL/MPK
[ MPL= ∆Q/∆L , MPK= ∆Q/∆K]
Answer c) At tangency the slope of isoquant= Slope of isocost line
MRTS= w/r
MPL/MPK= w/r
Answer d) At tangency Slope of isocost line= Slope of isoquant
w/r= MPL/MPK
Rearranging
MPL/w= MPK/r
where (MPL/w) is marginal output per dollar spend on labor
and (MPK/r) is Marginal output per dollar spend on capital
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