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The short run is the time period during which
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some of the firm's input decisions are constrained by previous commitments
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In the long run,
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all of the firm's input quantities are variable
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In which case will the transition from short run to long run involve the shortest chronological time?
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a service that provides temporary secretaries to companies
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The case presented by economists of production with a single variable input is analogous to
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a controlled laboratory experiment in which the scientist permits one variable to change at a time
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The total physical product of an input is the same thing as its
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output
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Which of the following experiments will yield observations that would allow one to calculate the marginal physical product of labor?
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increase the number of workers on an assembly line and record the change in output
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Marginal physical product can tell a producer
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how much the last input added to the total amount of production
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The marginal physical product of an input is the
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addition to output from using one more unit of an input
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A total product curve shows the
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relationship between units of inputs and total product or total output
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USX, a steel company, reduced the # of man-hours required to produce a ton of steel from 10.8 in 1982 to 3.8 in 1990, thereby eliminating 55,000 jobs. Technically. this raise in productivity means
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average product of labor increased
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The "law" of diminishing returns is also referred to as
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the "law" of variable input proportions
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The "law" of diminishing returns
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is based on regular observations of input-output relationships over the last two centuries
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Which of the following statements is equivalent to the law of diminishing marginal returns?
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too many cooks spoil the broth
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The marginal revenue product of an hour of labor used in steel production is equal to
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its marginal physical product times the price of steel
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When the marginal revenue product of an input is less than its price, the
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producer should reduce the use of that input
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In August 1988, the LA Kings hired Wayne Gretzky for $15mil in cash. The hockey team's decision must have been based on the expectation that
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Gretzky's marginal revenue product will equal or exceed $15mil
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Marginal revenue product is the
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additional revenue from one additional unit of input
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If the firm's marginal physical product is 8, and its handicrafts sell for $70, at a labor cost of $150, the firm is operating
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short of an optimal input point
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Which of the following equations defines marginal revenue product?
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MRP = MPP times price of the product
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The rule for the optimal use of any input says that
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when MRP is greater than price, it pays to expand resource use
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The optimal level of resource use comes when
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MRP equals input price
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Which of the following indicates an input is being overused relative to the optimal level?
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MRP<P of input
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The optimum quantity of an input occurs when
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marginal revenue product equals input price
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Which of the following is the correct statement of the marginal rule for optimal input proportions? The input proportion is optimal when
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Pa/Pb = MPPa/MPPb
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A firm practices input substitution when it
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replaces unskilled labor with automated machinery
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Determining the optimal choice of input combinations generally does not involve
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fixing the level of technology in the long run
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If the marginal physical product of more labor is twice as high as the marginal physical product of more machinery, a rational firm would
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reduce the labor used and increase the machinery used only if labor costs more than twice as much as machinery
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At a given level of wheat output, one more unit of labor would produce 10 extra bushels, and one more unit of seed would produce 30 extra bushels. A unit of labor costs $6, and a unit of seed costs $12. The farmer should
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buy more seed and less labor
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A firm is operation with an optimal combination of inputs. Suddenly the price of one input rises. The firm should
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buy less of that input and more of the other input
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A firm's optimal input proportions may change if
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all of the above: input price changes; the relative marginal productivities of the inputs change; and the firm's optimal output level changes
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A firm uses two inputs, A and B. At its optimal choice of input proportions,
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P of A/P of B = MRP of A/MRP of B
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If the MPP of labor is 60 and the price of labor per period is $20, the MPP of machinery is 75 and the price of the machinery per period is $25, in order to achieve optimal input proportions the firm should use
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the current combination
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A production function describes how much
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output can be produced given any combination of inputs
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The production function
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shows the relationship between output and all inputs
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A production function shows the
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maximum output that can be obtained from each combination of inputs
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A production function provides
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technological information on how much output varies with changes in inputs
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The firm can calculate all points on its total cost curve it it knows
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the prices of inputs and its production function
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To determine total cost, the businessperson must know
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input quantity and input price
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Marginal cost
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all of the above are correct: is the increase in total cost resulting from production of one additional unit of input; is the cost of the marginal unit of output; and the average cost curve are U-shaped
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On Naomi's pig farm, Naomi hires all the labor used, grows all the grain fed to the pigs, and owns the barn. The costs used to calculate the total cost curve include
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the cost of labor, the cost of growing grain, and the opportunity cost of the barn
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A factory produces 1,000 radios a year, AVC = $10 and TFC = $5,000. The factory's TC
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equals $15,000
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Marginal cost is the
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change in total cost resulting from the production of one more unit of output
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Where marginal cost is less than average cost,
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marginal cost may be rising, falling, or constant
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Al's Donuts produces about 600 dozen doughnuts daily. If flour prices increase 20%
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marginal cost, average variable cost, and average total cost will shift up
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Average cost curves have the same shape as
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marginal cost curves
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Total fixed cost
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remains constant even if the firm shuts down
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A roller coaster operator produces thrill-packed rides using electricity and a roller coaster. For the roller coast operator, electricity is
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a variable cost
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Which of the following is a fixed cost?
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mortgage on the building
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Total fixed cost
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is constant at all levels of output
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Which of the following is a fixed cost to farmer McDonald?
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insurance
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Which of the following is a variable cost for an airline?
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jet fuel
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Which of the following is correct?
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AC = AFC + AVC
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The typical average cost curve
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first declines to a minimum and then increases as output increases
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The average cost curve
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is the vertical summation of the AFC and the AVC curves
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Average cost curves decline because
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fixed cost is spread out over larger amounts of production
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Which of the following formulas defines average cost?
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AC=TC/Q
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A firm's AC will eventually begin to rise because
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bottlenecks may be reached for some inputs
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In the typical AC curve, the downward-sloping part is attributable to
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spreading fixed costs over larger outputs and increasing returns to the variable inputs
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If a firm has a U-shaped long-run average cost curve,
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it must have increasing returns to scale at low levels of production and decreasing returns to scale at high levels of production
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AC is lower in the long run than in the short run because
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inputs can be combined more efficiently in the long run
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Everything else equal, the AC curve will shift downward if
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input MPPs rise
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Everything else equal, the AC curve will shift when
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technical change raises the MPP of one input
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One reason why critics argue that large firms should not be broken up is that in some cases
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many smaller firms would be less-efficient producers
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The long-run average cost curve
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all of the above are correct: is a composite of short-run AC curves; shows the lowest possible short-run AC corresponding to each output level; depends on the firm's planning horizon
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A firm uses workers and seed to grow lettuce. Its lettuce output rises from 100 tons to 200 tons when the number of workers increases from 25 to 75. Its production process shows
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diminishing returns to labor
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If economies of scale exist for a particular production function, long-run [average costs will
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fall
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Whether or not a production process shows economies of scale depends on
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technology
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When economies of scale exist,
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production costs per unit decline as output expands
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When economies of scale are present
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costs per unit decline as output expands
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Economies of scale
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pertain to the long run only
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A firm's production process shows constant returns to scale. It can produce 5,000 widgets at a total cost of $2,500 and 10,000 widgets at an average cost of
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50¢
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Economies of scale is another term for
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increasing returns to scale
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If a firm has increasing returns to scale at all levels of output, the
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slope of its long-run average cost curve is always negative
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If doubling the quantity of inputs more than doubles the quantity of outputs, the firm is experiencing
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increasing returns to scale
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If a firm increases inputs by 15% and output increases by 12.5%, the firm is experiencing
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decreasing returns to scale
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If in some range of production average cost is falling the firm is experiencing
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increasing returns to scale
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If in some production range average cost is rising, the firm is experiencing
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decreasing returns to scale
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A detroit business advertises "the more we sell, the lower the price, and the lower the price, the more we sell" This firm is experiencing
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increasing returns to scale
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An airline industry study recently reported, "Evidence is abundant that larger firms are not more efficient or less costly simply because they are larger. In fact, other things equal, the largest carriers tend to have a higher level of unit costs, possibly caused by the difficulties of managing an airline of large size." This means that
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airlines are experiencing decreasing returns to scale
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A cost curve drawn with years on the horizontal axis and costs per unit on the vertical axis would be a
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historical cost curve
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Cost minimization is the process of making optimal use of all of the inputs whose quantities are
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variable in the short and long run
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The major incentive for cost minimization is the
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discipline imposed by the market system
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Production indifference curves bow inward toward the graph's origin because of
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the law of diminishing returns to a single point
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Production costs for a given output will be minimized when the
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product indifference curve and the budget line are tangent
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If on a given product indifference curve a firm is using an insufficient (nonoptimal) amount of one of its inputs
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costs will not be minimal