As more workers are hired, the increase in output begins to decline due to the principle of __________, where additional labor results in progressively smaller increases in productivity while other inputs remain constant.

The answer to the question is "diminishing marginal returns. " This principle explains that as you add more workers to a fixed amount of resources, like machines or space, each new worker contributes less to the overall output than the previous one did. For example, imagine a pizza shop with only one oven. If you keep hiring more cooks, at some point, they won't be able to make more pizzas because there isn't enough oven space for everyone to cook at the same time. So, while more workers can initially boost production, eventually, their impact starts to shrink as the limited resources can't keep up with the growing number of employees.