1.  How many workers should the managers hire to maximize economic profit? 2.  Calculate the profit for the output selected in part 1. 3.  What is the elasticity of supply of workers?

Exploring Economics
8th Edition
ISBN:9781544336329
Author:Robert L. Sexton
Publisher:Robert L. Sexton
Chapter11: The Firm: Production And Costs
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 15P
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  Collado Lumber Company is producing tons of lumber per day.    The following table is the costs of production.    The managers currently have six machines.    The price of output is $5 per unit.   The wage of the worker is $55 per worker.  From economic theory, we know that the value of the marginal product is price times the marginal product of labor. According to economic theory, a worker should be hired if the value of the marginal product is greater than the marginal cost of hiring a worker.

 

See the table below.

 

Number of machines

Number of workers

Output

The marginal product of labor

VMP

Wage

Marginal cost of hiring an additional worker

6

0

0

xxx

xxx

$55.00

xxx

6

1

2

2

$10.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

2

14

12

$60.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

3

30

16

$80.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

4

42

12

$60.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

5

50

8

$40.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

6

56

6

$30.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

7

60

4

$20.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

8

63

3

$15.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

9

65

2

$10.00

$55.00

$55.00

6

10

66

1

$5.00

$55.00

$55.00

 

Collado Lumber Company uses 6 machines and workers.  The machines are the only fixed resources with a fixed cost of $60.

 

 

1.  How many workers should the managers hire to maximize economic profit?

2.  Calculate the profit for the output selected in part 1.

3.  What is the elasticity of supply of workers?

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