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Chapter 6: Inputs and Production Functions
In this chapter we will cover:
6.1 Inputs and Production
6.2 Marginal Product (similar to marginal utility)
6.3 Average Product
6.4 Isoquants (similar to indifference curves)
6.5 Marginal rate of technical substitution
(MRTS, similar to MRS)
6.6 Special production functions
(similar to special utility functions)
6.7 Technological Progress 4
Inputs: Productive resources, such as labor and
capital, that firms use to manufacture goods and
services (also called factors of production)
Q = f(L,K,M)
Q = f(P,F,L,A)
Computer Chips = f1(L,K,M)
Econ Mark = f2(Intellect, Study, Bribe)
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Production and Utility Functions
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Q Example: The Production Function and Technical
Efficiency
Production Function
Q = f(L)
D
•
C Inefficient point
• •B
Production Set
L 10
Causes of technical inefficiency:
1) Shirking
-Workers don’t work as hard as they can
-Can be due to laziness or a union
strategy
2) Strategic reasons for technical inefficiency
-Poor production may get government
grants
-Low profits may prevent competition
3) Imperfect information on “best practices”
-inferior technology
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Acme medical equipment faces the
production function:
Q=K1/2L1/2
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6.2 Marginal Product
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Q
L
MPL increasing
MPL becomes negative
MPL
MPL decreasing
L 16
Law of Diminishing Returns
•Law of diminishing marginal utility: marginal
utility (eventually) declines as the quantity
consumed of a single good increases.
Each
Additional
worker
Is more
Total Product
productive
L 18
6.3 Average Product
Average product: total output that is to be
produced divided by the quantity of the input
that is used in its production:
APL = Q/L
APK = Q/K
Example:
Q=K1/2L1/2
APL = [K1/2L1/2]/L = (K/L)1/2
APK = [K1/2L1/2]/K = (L/K)1/2
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Marginal, and Average Product
When Marginal Product is greater than
average product, average product is increasing
-ie: When you get an assignment mark higher
than your average, your average increases
When Marginal Product is less than average
product, average product is decreasing
-ie: When you get an assignment mark lower
than your average, your average decreases
L
APL increasing
APL decreasing
APL
MPL APL maximized
APL
L 21
MPL
Isoquant: traces out all the combinations of inputs (labor and
capital) that allow that firm to produce the same quantity of
output.
Example: Q = 4K1/2L1/2
40 = 4K1/2L1/2
=> 100 = KL
=> K = 100/L 22
…and the isoquant for Q = Q*?
Q* = 4K1/2L1/2
Q*2 = 16KL
K = Q*2/16L
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K
Example: Isoquants
Q = 40
Slope=K/L Q = 20
L
0 24
Indifference and Isoquant Curves
•In Consumer Theory, the indifference curve
showed combinations of goods giving the same
utility
•The slope of the indifference curve was the
marginal rate of substitution
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6.5 Marginal Rate of Technical
Substitution (MRS)
Marginal rate of technical substitution
(labor for capital): measures the amount of K
the firm the firm could give up in exchange for
an additional L, in order to just be able to
produce the same output as before.
-MPLLMPK K
MPL K
output constant
MPK L
K MP
output constant L MRTS
L
L,K
MPK 27
The marginal rate of technical substitution,
MRTSL,K tells us:
MRTSL,K = MPL/MPK
MRTSL,K =4K/4L
MRTSL,K =K/L
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Isoquants – Regions of Production
•Due to the law of diminishing marginal returns,
increasing one input will eventually decrease total
output (ie: 50 workers in a small room)
•When this occurs, in order to maintain a level of
output (stay on the same isoquant), the other
input will have to increase
•This type of production is not economical, and
results in backward-bending and upward sloping
sections of the isoquant:
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K
Example: The Economic and the
Uneconomic Regions of Production
Isoquants
MPK < 0 Uneconomic region
Q = 20
MPL < 0
Economic region Q = 10
L
0 31
Isoquants and Substitution
•Different industries have different
production functions resulting in different
substitution possibilities:
MRTSL,K is low;
• labour is
abundant so a
little more labour
• barely affects the
need for capital
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L
MRTS Example
Let Q=4LK
MPL=4K
MPK=4L
MRTSL,K =K/L
Show diminishing MRTS when Q=16.
MRTS(1,4)=4/1=4
MRTS(2,2)=2/2=1
MRTS(4,1)=1/4
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K
MRTSL,K =4
4 •
MRTSL,K =1
MRTSL,K =1/4
2 •
1 • Q=16
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1 2 4 L
K When input substitution is easy,
isoquants are nearly straight lines
130
100
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55 100 L
How much will output increase when ALL inputs increase by
a particular amount?
RTS = [%Q]/[%(all inputs)]
1% increase in inputs => more than 1% increase in
output, increasing returns to scale.
Q1 * = 500(L1)+400(K1)
Q1 *= 500L1+400K1
Q1 *= (500L1+400K1)
Q1 *= Q1
Q2 = A(L1)(K1)
= + AL1K1
= +Q1
+ = 1 … CRS
+ <1 … DRS
+ >1 … IRS 39
Why are returns to scale important?
MRTS constant
Constant returns to scale
Inputs are PERFECT SUBSTITUTES:
-Ie: 10 CD’s are a perfect substitute
for 1 DVD for storing data.
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K Example: Linear Production Function
Q = Q1
Q = Q0
L
0 43
-ie: 2 pieces of bread and 1 piece of cheese make a
grilled cheese sandwich: Q=min (c, 1/2b) 44
Cheese
Example: Fixed Proportion Production Function
2 Q=2
1 Q=1
0 2 4 Bread
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3. Cobb-Douglas Production Function:
Q = aLK
smooth isoquants
MRTS varies along isoquants
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K Example: Cobb-Douglas Production Function
Q = Q1
Q = Q0
0 L
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Definition: Technological progress shifts
isoquants inward by allowing the firm to achieve:
Q = 100 before
Q = 100 after
L 49
Chapter 6 Key Concepts
Inputs and Production
Technical Efficiency
Marginal Product
Law of Diminishing Returns
Average Product
Isoquants
Marginal rate of technical substitution
Returns to Scale
Special production functions
Technological Progress 50