Economics (Irwin Economics)
21st Edition
ISBN: 9781259723223
Author: Campbell R. McConnell, Stanley L. Brue, Sean Masaki Flynn Dr.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
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Question
Chapter 16, Problem 2DQ
To determine
Reason for not employing more labors.
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A software company in Silicon Valley uses programmers (labor) and computers (capital) to produce apps for mobile devices. The firm estimates that when it comes to labor, MPL = 5 apps per month while PL = $1,000 per month. And when it comes to capital, MPC = 8 apps per month while PC = $1,000 per month. If the company wants to maximize its profits, it should: LO16.5 a. Increase labor while decreasing capital. b. Decrease labor while increasing capital. c. Keep the current amounts of capital and labor just as they are. d. None of the above.
. Suppose that a car dealership wishes to see if efficiency wages will help improve its salespeople’s productivity. Currently, each salesperson sells an average of one car per day while being paid $20 per hour for an eight-hour day. LO17.8
What is the current labor cost per car sold?
Suppose that when the dealer raises the price of labor to $30 per hour the average number of cars sold by a salesperson increases to two per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold? By how much is it higher or lower than it was before? Has the efficiency of labor expenditures by the firm (cars sold per dollar of wages paid to salespeople) increased or decreased?
Suppose that if the wage is raised a second time to $40 per hour the number of cars sold rises to an average of 2.5 per day. What is now the labor cost per car sold?
If the firm’s goal is to maximize the efficiency of its labor expenditures, which of the three hourly salary rates should it use: $20 per hour, $30 per hour, or $40 per hour?…
Ma2.
Required:
Question 3.(LO3 Apply)
Simon Ltd is run by Simon Leather who makes leather belts for designers. He uses the finest Argentinean
leather and needs highly trained machinists to make the belts up to the quality designers expect. His beits usually sell for £50 per item and use 0.2m² of leather and 30 minutes of labor. Simon Ltd has 5 staff. They work a standard 8-hour day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks of the year. They earn £15 per hour.
Leather costs £20 per meter. Simon also has some variable overheads of £6 per unit. Fixed overheads are £28,800.
a) Calculate the number of belts Simon will have to sell to break even.
Simon decides to branch out and start to also sell handbags to the same market. The handbags sell for €250 each and use 1.5m² of leather with 1 hour of labor being required. Variable overheads are £20 per handbag.
There has been a bad case of foot and mouth in Argentina. Simon can only use the leather he has currently being shipped to him for the next…
Chapter 16 Solutions
Economics (Irwin Economics)
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Similar questions
- Consider a small landscaping company run by Mr. Viemeister. He is considering increasing his firm’s capacity. If he adds one more worker, the firm’s total monthly revenue will increase from $50,000 to $58,000. If he adds one more tractor, monthly revenue will increase from $50,000 to $62,000. Each additional worker costs $4,000 per month, while an additional tractor would also cost $4,000 per month. LO16.5 a. What is the marginal product of labor? The marginal product of capital? b. What is the ratio of the marginal product of labor to the price of labor (MPL/PL)? What is the ratio of the marginal product of capital to the price of capital (MPK/PK)? c. Is the firm using the least-costly combination of inputs? d. Does adding an additional worker or adding an additional tractor yield a larger increase in total revenue for each dollar spent?arrow_forwardSuppose that low-skilled workers employed in clearing woodland can each clear one acre per month if each is equipped with a shovel, a machete, and a chainsaw. Clearing one acre brings in $1,000 in revenue. Each worker’s equipment costs the worker’s employer $150 per month to rent and each worker toils 40 hours per week for four weeks each month. LO17.6 Now consider the employer’s total costs. These include the equipment costs as well as a normal profit of $50 per acre. If the firm pays workers the minimum wage of $6.20 per hour, what will the firm’s economic profit or loss be per acre? At what value would the minimum wage have to be set so that the firm would make zero economic profit from employing an additional low-skilled worker to clear woodland?arrow_forwardAn economist estimated that the cost function of a single-product firm isC(Q) = 100 + 20Q + 15 Q^2+ 10 Q^3Based on this information, determine: (LO4, LO5)a. The fixed cost of producing 10 units of output.arrow_forward
- Complete the following labor supply table for a firm hiring labor competitively: LO17.2 Show graphically the labor supply and marginal resource (labor) cost curves for this firm. Are the curves the same or different? If they are different, which one is higher? Plot the labor demand data of review question 2 in Chapter 16 on the graph used in part a above. What are the equilibrium wage rate and level of employment?arrow_forward4. Suppose that low-skilled workers employed in clearing woodland can each clear one acre per month if each is equippedwith a shovel, a machete, and a chainsaw. Clearing one acrebrings in $1,000 in revenue. Each worker’s equipment coststhe worker’s employer $150 per month to rent and each workertoils 40 hours per week for four weeks each month. LO17.6 a. What is the marginal revenue product of hiring one lowskilled worker to clear woodland for one month?b. How much revenue per hour does each worker bring in?c. If the minimum wage were $6.20, would the revenue perhour in part b exceed the minimum wage? If so, by howmuch per hour?d. Now consider the employer’s total costs. These includethe equipment costs as well as a normal profit of $50 peracre. If the firm pays workers the minimum wage of$6.20 per hour, what will the firm’s economic profit orloss be per acre?e. At what value would the minimum wage have to be set sothat the firm would make zero economic profit fromemploying an…arrow_forwardPROBLEMS 1. Workers are compensated by firms with “benefits” in addition to wages and salaries. The most prominent benefit offered by many firms is health insurance. Suppose that in 2000, workers at one steel plant were paid $20 per hour and in addition received health benefits at the rate of $4 per hour. Also suppose that by 2010 workers at that plant were paid $21 per hour but received $9 in health insurance benefits. LO17.1 By what percentage did total compensation (wages plus benefits) change at this plant from 2000 to 2010? What was the approximate average annual percentage change in total compensation? By what percentage did wages change at this plant from 2000 to 2010? What was the approximate average annual percentage change in wages? If workers value a dollar of health benefits as much as they value a dollar of wages, by what total percentage will they feel that their incomes have risen over this time period? What if they only consider wages when calculating their incomes?…arrow_forward
- Discuss the impact of the following factors on the optimal method of procuring an input. (LO1, LO3) a. Benefits from specialization. b. Bureaucracy costs. c. Opportunism on either side of the transaction. d. Specialized investments. e. Unspecifiable events. f. Bargaining costs.arrow_forwardSubscribing to the theory that life is indeed a beach, the residents of La Playa spend all of their money on three things: Every year, they collectively buy 250 bathing suits, 600 tubes of sunscreen, and 400 beach towels. Using the data in Table 8P - 1 , calculate the following . [LO 8.1] a. The total cost of this basket each year 2013 through . b. How much the price of this basket has changed from year to year in percentage terms. threearrow_forwardIn the short run, the marginal cost of the first unit of output is $25, the marginal cost of producing producing the third unit of output is $14. The firm's total variable cost of producing three units of O a. $39. O b. $25 O c. $33.. O d. $57.arrow_forward
- Why would a firm be happy to earn zero economic profits? Because zero economic profit means that the firm earns Select one.O. enough in total revenues to pay for all the fixed cost and some but not all of the variable costs.O. enough in total revenues to pay for all the accounting costs but none of the opportunity costs.O. zero accounting profit.O. enough in total revenues to pay for all the accounting costs and all of the opportunity costs.arrow_forwardO1. What effect would each of the following have on the value of the firm?.(D) The firm is required to install pollution-control equipment.(e) The workforce votes to unionize.(f) The rate of interest rises.(g) The rate of inflation changes.arrow_forward8. Why can the distinction between fixed costs and variable costs be made in the short run? Classify the following as fixed or variable costs: advertising expenditures, fuel, interest on company-issued bonds, shipping charges, payments for raw materials, real estate taxes, executive salaries, insurance premiums, wage payments, sales taxes, and rental payments on leased office machinery. LO4arrow_forward
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