📚 Learning Guide
Marginal Revenue Product of Labor
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A bakery owner is considering hiring a new baker. Currently, the bakery produces 100 loaves of bread with 2 bakers, generating $500 in revenue. If hiring a third baker increases production by 30 loaves and the marginal revenue of each loaf remains $5, what should the owner consider regarding the Marginal Revenue Product of Labor (MRPL) before making the hiring decision?

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Choose the Best Answer

A

The MRPL must be greater than the wage of the new baker for hiring to be beneficial.

B

The bakery should hire the new baker regardless of the MRPL since more labor always increases output.

C

The owner should only consider the fixed costs associated with hiring a new baker.

D

The marginal revenue of each loaf will decrease if more bakers are hired, making hiring unnecessary.

Understanding the Answer

Let's break down why this is correct

Answer

The bakery owner should look at the Marginal Revenue Product of Labor (MRPL) to decide if hiring the third baker is a good idea. The MRPL measures how much additional revenue the bakery would earn from hiring one more worker. In this case, if the third baker increases production by 30 loaves, and each loaf brings in $5, the total additional revenue would be 30 loaves times $5, which equals $150. The owner should compare this $150 to the cost of hiring the new baker; if the cost is less than $150, it would be a smart decision to hire the new baker since it would increase profits. If the cost is higher, then the owner might want to reconsider.

Detailed Explanation

The MRPL shows how much extra money each new baker brings in. Other options are incorrect because This idea assumes that more workers always mean more bread; Focusing only on fixed costs ignores how much money the new baker can make.

Key Concepts

Marginal Revenue Product of Labor
Wage Determination
Perfect Competition
Topic

Marginal Revenue Product of Labor

Difficulty

medium level question

Cognitive Level

understand

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