Question

Assume that a firm uses labor and capital to produce a product. The firm hires labor at a wage rate of $4 per unit and rents capital at $5 per unit. At its current output level, the marginal physical products of labor and capital are 20 and 30 units, respectively. To minimize its cost of production without changing the level of output, the firm should a.) make no changes b.) hire more labor and rent more captital c.) hire less labor and rent more capital d.) hire more labor and rent less capital Hire less labor and rent less capital

Answer 1

Answer: c.) hire less labor and rent more capital

Explanation:

To answer this we would need to find out the Marginal cost per dollar of producing with either form of production being labour or capital.

The Marginal Product of Labour is 20 units resulting from $4 dollars so that means that for every dollar spent on Labour we get,

= 20/4

= 5 units of output.

However, The Marginal Product of renting Capital is 30 units resulting from $5 dollars so that means that for every dollar spent on Capital we get,

= 30/5

= 6 units of output.

This means that renting Capital is more efficient because we get 1 more unit of output per dollar and so to minimize cost of production without changing the level of output, the firm should hire less labor and rent more capital.