Question

A Japanese worker can produce 6 units of steel or 3 televisions per hour. A Korean worker can produce 8 units of steel or 2 televisions per hour. Plot the production possibilities frontier for each country, assuming each country has only one worker and the worker works only one hour. To plot the frontier, plot the end points and connect them with a line. For example, Japan can produce 6 units of steel with its worker or 3 televisions. It can also allocate 1/2 hour to the production of each and get 3 units of steel and 1 1/2 televisions. What are the opportunity cost of a television in Japan and Korea

Answer 1

Answer:

2 and 4

Explanation:

Japanese worker can produce 6 units of steel or 3 televisions per hour.

Korean worker can produce 8 units of steel or 2 televisions per hour.

Opportunity cost is the cost of the lost alternative. So when the country decides to produce only televisions it has to give up on steel production. Thus, the units of steel forgone for each unit of television gained is an opportunity cost of a television.

$Opportunity cost = \frac{Units of Steel lost}{Units of Television gained}$

Thus,

Opportunity cost of television for Japan = $\frac{6}{3} = 2$

Opportunity cost of television for Korea = $\frac{8}{2} = 4$