problem set#3
Problem set 3 (Answer)
7.6. A farmer uses three inputs to produce vegetables: land, capital, and labor. The production function for the farm exhibits diminishing marginal rate of technical substitution.
a) In the short run the amount of land is fixed. Suppose the prices of capital and labor both increase by 5 percent. What happens to the cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital for a given output level? Remember that there are three inputs, one of which is fixed.
b) Suppose only the cost of labor goes up by 5 percent. What happens to the cost-minimizing quantity of labor and capital in the short run.
a) The amount of land used in production is fixed in the short-run. Hence, in the short-run the farmer chooses amount of capital and labor. It follows that cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital have to satisfy equation MPL / MPK = w/r where w and r denote prices of labor and capital. Notice that w/r = (1.05 w)/ (1.05 r). The cost-minimizing quantities of inputs, for each level of output, do not change when prices of both inputs go up by 5% and quantity of land is fixed.
b) For a given output level, the cost-minimizing farmer uses more capital and less labor.
7.9. Suppose the production of airframes is characterized by a Cobb–Douglas production function: Q = LK. The marginal products for this production function are MPL = K and MPK = L. Suppose the price of labor is $10 per unit and the price of capital is $1 per unit. Find the cost-minimizing combination of labor and capital if the manufacturer wants to produce 121,000 airframes.
The tangency condition implies
Substituting into the production function yields
Since , . The cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital to produce 121,000 airframes are and .
7.16. A construction company has two types of employees: skilled and unskilled. A skilled employee can build 1 yard of a brick wall in one hour. An unskilled employee needs twice as much time to build the same wall.
7.6. A farmer uses three inputs to produce vegetables: land, capital, and labor. The production function for the farm exhibits diminishing marginal rate of technical substitution.
a) In the short run the amount of land is fixed. Suppose the prices of capital and labor both increase by 5 percent. What happens to the cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital for a given output level? Remember that there are three inputs, one of which is fixed.
b) Suppose only the cost of labor goes up by 5 percent. What happens to the cost-minimizing quantity of labor and capital in the short run.
a) The amount of land used in production is fixed in the short-run. Hence, in the short-run the farmer chooses amount of capital and labor. It follows that cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital have to satisfy equation MPL / MPK = w/r where w and r denote prices of labor and capital. Notice that w/r = (1.05 w)/ (1.05 r). The cost-minimizing quantities of inputs, for each level of output, do not change when prices of both inputs go up by 5% and quantity of land is fixed.
b) For a given output level, the cost-minimizing farmer uses more capital and less labor.
7.9. Suppose the production of airframes is characterized by a Cobb–Douglas production function: Q = LK. The marginal products for this production function are MPL = K and MPK = L. Suppose the price of labor is $10 per unit and the price of capital is $1 per unit. Find the cost-minimizing combination of labor and capital if the manufacturer wants to produce 121,000 airframes.
The tangency condition implies
Substituting into the production function yields
Since , . The cost-minimizing quantities of labor and capital to produce 121,000 airframes are and .
7.16. A construction company has two types of employees: skilled and unskilled. A skilled employee can build 1 yard of a brick wall in one hour. An unskilled employee needs twice as much time to build the same wall.