Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(Download PDF) Microeconomics Theory and Applications 11th Edition Browning Test Bank Full Chapter
(Download PDF) Microeconomics Theory and Applications 11th Edition Browning Test Bank Full Chapter
(Download PDF) Microeconomics Theory and Applications 11th Edition Browning Test Bank Full Chapter
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-12th-edition-browning-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-12th-edition-browning-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-with-calculus-4th-edition-perloff-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-with-calculus-3rd-edition-perloff-test-bank/
Microeconomics Theory with Applications 8th Edition
Eaton Test Bank
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-with-
applications-8th-edition-eaton-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-with-calculus-3rd-edition-perloff-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-theory-and-
applications-with-calculus-4th-edition-perloff-solutions-manual/
https://testbankfan.com/product/microeconomics-principles-and-
applications-6th-edition-hall-test-bank/
https://testbankfan.com/product/finance-applications-and-
theory-3rd-edition-cornett-test-bank/
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following most completely describes the cost to a firm associated with the use of
its resources in a particular way?
A) Its monetary outlay for inputs
B) Its explicit cost
C) The implicit cost of not renting its own resources
D) The opportunity cost of its resources
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: The Nature of Cost
Page: 208
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Nature of Cost
Page: 209
3. Jane Doe has her own law practice. She pays $1,500 in rent for her offices per month. She also
pays $4,000 a month in salaries to secretaries and staff, utility bills worth $500 a month, and
miscellaneous bills worth $1,000 a month. She recently received an offer to work for a legal firm
for $8,000 a month, but she declined that in order to run her own practice. Which of the following
most completely describes the cost Jane incurs per month to run her own practice?
A) $15,000
B) $7,000
C) $5,500
D) $6,000
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Nature of Cost
Page: 209
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
4. A firm’s production cost equaling the opportunity cost of its resources reflects the fact that:
A) resources are best-suited to producing one particular good.
B) firms typically make one primary product.
C) resources can be used to make many different products.
D) firms often make more than one product.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Nature of Cost
Page: 209
5. Marico Corp. can manufacture 45,000 ball bearings per day at one of its production facilities. If
the company uses the same facility for manufacturing rivets, a total of 30,000 rivets can be
produced each day. Calculate Marico Corp.’s implicit cost per day of producing rivets at this
facility.
A) The monetary value of 45,000 ball bearings
B) The monetary value of 30,000 rivets
C) The monetary value of 15,000 ball bearings
D) The monetary value of 15,000 rivets
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Nature of Cost
Page: 209
6. Suppose you quit your job as an accountant earning an annual salary of $50,000 to buy
foreclosed homes, fix them up, and then resell them. You have $200,000 of your own money to
invest in this, half of which you use to purchase three homes for a combined $500,000 (borrowing
the remaining $400,000), and spend the remaining $100,000 of your money on materials. Over the
course of one year you fix up all three homes and resell them for a total of $700,000. Assume that
your loan to purchase the homes is payable in one lump sum at the end of one year.If you can
borrow and lend money at a 6% annual rate of interest, what was your total cost of renovating these
three homes?
A) $572,000
B) $600,000
C) $624,000
D) $686,000
Answer: D
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
7. Suppose a builder constructs a house that he hopes to sell to a prospective future buyer before he
finishes building it. After spending six months and $300,000 in acquiring the land and constructing
the house, market conditions change and the builder fails to find a buyer willing to pay his asking
price of $360,000. The builder further realizes that by investing $300,000 in a bank deposit he
would have been able to earn $4,500 as interest. Which of the following is the economically
efficient way for the builder to view his investment?
A) The $300,000 is a sunk cost and should be ignored when negotiating a price for the home.
B) The $300,000 is the builder’s opportunity cost and he should not accept any offer below that.
C) He should advertise more heavily in an attempt to sell the home for at least $300,000.
D) He should raise the price even further to better reflect the additional opportunity costs of his
time and capital expenditures.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
8. Ben decides to expand his ice cream store so he can begin selling sub sandwiches. He spends
$20,000 in preparing his new sandwich shop. His marginal cost of selling sub sandwiches is $3 and
he estimates that he can sell 10,000 subs for $6 each. He soon learns of a nearby store that is now
selling identical subs for $3.50 each. Ben should:
A) quit selling subs since his average total cost of selling subs is greater than the $3.50 price he
would now have to charge.
B) sell subs for $3.50 each, considering the $20,000 to be a sunk cost and ignoring it.
C) sell subs as long the price he receives exceeds his average fixed costs of selling subs.
D) lower his price to $5 to cover his average total cost of selling subs.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
9. The monetary cost of the space a restaurant rents to produce meals can be categorized as a:
A) variable cost.
B) marginal cost.
C) fixed cost.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
D) opportunity cost.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
11. If fixed costs are $10,000 and variable costs are constant at $1.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output, what will the average total cost be when 10,000 units are produced?
A) $0.20
B) $2.00
C) $5.00
D) $1.00
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
12. If fixed costs are $1,000 and variable costs are constant at $1.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output, what will the average total cost be when 2,000 units are produced?
A) $0.50
B) $1.00
C) $1.50
D) $2.00
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Page: 210
13. If there are no fixed costs and variable costs are constant at $1.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output, what will the average total cost be after 1 unit of output is produced?
A) $0
B) $1
C) $1.50
D) $2
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
14. If total fixed costs are $1,000, variable costs are constant at $5.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output and the average total cost is $6, how many units are being produced?
A) 10
B) 100
C) 1,000
D) 1,100
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
16. If total fixed costs are $1,000, variable costs are constant at $5.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output and average total cost is $6, what is total variable cost?
A) $100
B) $1,000
C) $5,000
D) $6,000
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 210
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 211
18. If total fixed costs are $1,000, variable costs are constant at $5.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output and average total cost is $6, what is average fixed cost?
A) $1
B) $5
C) $10
D) $1,000
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 211
19. If there are no fixed costs and variable costs are constant at $1.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output, what is marginal cost when 1 unit of output is produced?
A) $0
B) $0.50
C) $1
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
D) $2
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 211
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 211
21. If there are no fixed costs and variable costs are constant at $1.00 per unit over the relevant
range of output, what is the marginal cost of the second unit?
A) $0
B) $0.50
C) $1
D) $2
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 211
22. A total product curve whose slope is continually rising at an increasing rate:
A) indicates that an infinite amount of labor is needed to produce a given level of output.
B) does not reflect diminishing marginal returns.
C) does not reflect increasing marginal returns.
D) describes a production function where labor is the only input.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 212
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
23. If the marginal cost curve intersects the average variable cost curve at 1,000 units per day, the
rate of output at which average total cost is minimized is _____.
A) 1,000 units
B) more than 1,000 units
C) less than 500 units
D) 500 units
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 212-213
In the figure given below, curves F, C, and G denote the total cost, the total variable cost, and the
total fixed cost of a firm.
Figure 8-1
Costs F
C
S
A G
B
T Output
24. In Figure 8-1, which of the following distances represent the total cost of producing BT units
of output?
A) SR
B) ST
C) RT
D) AB
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213
25. Refer to Figure 8-1. Which of the following is true at the output level BT?
A) The firm’s fixed cost is RT.
B) The firm’s average variable cost is RT/BT.
C) The firm’s marginal cost is RT/RB.
D) The firm’s variable cost is AB
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213
26. Which of the following is true of the total variable cost curve in the short run?
A) It depicts the law of decreasing returns to scale.
B) It is a straight line parallel to the horizontal axis.
C) It is independent of the production function.
D) It lies below the short-run total cost curve.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost of Production
Page: 213
In the figure given below, curves F, C, and G denote the total cost, the total variable cost, and the
total fixed cost of a firm.
Figure 8-1
Costs F
C
S
A G
B
T Output
29. Refer to Figure 8-1. The total fixed costs of the firm are identified by the distance:
A) RS.
B) ST.
C) BR.
D) BT.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213-214
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
30. Which of the following determines the shape of the marginal cost curve in the short run?
A) The marginal product of labor is first increasing and then decreasing
B) The wage rate first decreases and then increases throughout the range of output
C) The price of output produced by labor is first decreasing and then increasing
D) The presence of economies of scale in the product market
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
31. In the short run, a firm’s marginal cost rises because of:
A) a decline in output prices.
B) a decline in marginal productivity of inputs.
C) decreasing returns to scale.
D) the flexibility in input usage.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
32. If TC represents the change in total cost, w the change in the wage rate, TFC the change in
total fixed cost, q the change in output, and AC the change in average cost, the marginal cost of
the firm can be defined as:
A) TC/w.
B) TFC/q.
C) AC/q.
D) TC/q.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
36. When output expands from the fourth to the fifth unit, the total variable cost of production rises
from $400 to $500, while the total fixed cost remains constant at $100. Compute the marginal cost
of producing the fifth unit.
A) $50
B) $200
C) $400
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
D) $100
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
37. When labor is the only variable input used in production, marginal cost [MC]:
A) is inversely related to the marginal product of labor [MPL].
B) is inversely related to the wage rate [w].
C) is positively related to MPL.
D) is negatively related to labor supply [SL].
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
38. If the marginal product of the variable input rises and then falls, the MC curve will:
A) rise and then fall.
B) fall and then rise.
C) downward sloping throughout.
D) not depend upon the path of the marginal product of the variable input.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
39. Once diminishing returns have set in, each additional unit of the variable input:
A) decreases total output.
B) adds less to total output.
C) adds more to total output.
D) does not affect total output.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
40. Once diminishing returns have set in, each additional unit of output:
A) requires less of the variable input than the previous unit.
B) requires less cost outlay than the previous unit.
C) requires more of the fixed input than the previous unit.
D) requires more cost outlay than the previous unit.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
41. If total cost rises as the level of output produced increases, then:
A) marginal cost must be rising.
B) marginal cost must be constant.
C) marginal cost must be falling.
D) marginal cost must be positive.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
42. A firm uses labor as an input in production. For the range of output where the average product
of labor is increasing:
A) the marginal product of labor must be below the average product of labor.
B) the total product is at a maximum.
C) the marginal cost must also be increasing.
D) the average variable cost must be decreasing.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 215
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 215
44. A firm uses labor as an input in production. In the short-run, its average cost will reach a
minimum where:
A) average product of labor reaches a maximum.
B) marginal product of labor reaches a maximum.
C) marginal cost begins to increase.
D) marginal cost equals average cost.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 215
45. Which of the following statements about the relationship between marginal cost and average
cost is correct?
A) When MC is falling, AC is rising.
B) AC equals MC at MC's lowest point.
C) When MC exceeds AC, AC must be rising.
D) When AC exceeds MC, MC must be rising.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 216
46. Which of the following statements regarding the relationship between average cost and
marginal cost is not true?
A) When marginal cost is below average total cost, average total cost falls.
B) When marginal cost is above average variable cost, average variable cost rises.
C) When marginal cost is equal to average total cost, average total cost is minimized.
D) When marginal cost is above average fixed cost, average fixed cost rises.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 216
48. The slope of the total variable cost curve equals the:
A) average variable cost.
B) marginal cost.
C) average cost.
D) marginal physical product.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 217
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
In the figure given below, curves F, C, and G denote the total cost, the total variable cost, and the
total fixed cost of a firm.
Figure 8-1
Costs F
C
S
A G
B
T Output
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 217
50. Consider a graph with a total variable cost curve. Cost is on the vertical axis and output on the
horizontal axis. The marginal cost can be represented by:
A) a ray from the origin to a point tangent to the total variable cost curve.
B) a ray from the origin to a point on the total variable cost curve.
C) the slope at a particular point on the total variable cost curve.
D) the distance from the origin to a point on the total variable cost curve.
Answer: C
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
51. Suppose labor is on the horizontal axis and capital is on the vertical axis. If the wage rate is
$15 per worker per hour and the rental rate of capital is $10 per unit per hour, what is the slope of
the isocost curve?
A) –0.667
B) –1.5
C) –10
D) –15
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 218
52. Suppose labor is on the horizontal axis and capital on the vertical axis. If the total cost is
defined by the equation TC = $400 + $15L + $10K, the slope of the isocost curve is:
A) –0.667
B) –1.5
C) –8
D) –40
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 218
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 218
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
54. Although isocost lines and budget lines are similar, they differ in that:
A) budget lines are linear while isocost lines can be curved.
B) the consumer is constrained to the budget line while the firm can have more than one isocost
line.
C) the slope of a budget line equals the price ratio while the slope of an isocost line is not related to
prices.
D) budget lines do not have a constant expenditure.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 218
55. Assume that labor is plotted on the horizontal axis and capital is plotted on the vertical axis. A
firm plans to spend $1,000 per week on inputs and confronts a wage rate of $10 per hour and a
capital rental rate of $20 per hour. Given this information, what will be the slope of the isocost
curve?
A) –2
B) –1/2
C) –100
D) –50
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 218
56. A tangency between an isocost line and an isoquant shows all the following, except:
A) the maximum output attainable by a firm at a given cost.
B) the minimum cost necessary to produce a given output.
C) an input combination where the ratio of marginal products equals the ratio of the input prices.
D) an input combination where the returns to labor and capital inputs are equal.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 219
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 219
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 219
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 219
60. The point of tangency between an isoquant and the isocost line indicates:
A) that in the long run fixed costs are equal to variable costs.
B) the maximum cost incurred for producing one unit of output.
C) that in the long run marginal costs tend to exceed fixed costs.
D) the minimum cost necessary to produce a particular level of output.
Answer: D
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
62. Suppose the wage rate is $15 per hour and the rental rate of capital is $10 per hour. If the
marginal product of labor is 60 and the marginal product of capital 10, the profit maximizing firm
should:
A) hire more labor and less capital.
B) utilize more capital and less labor.
C) maintain its current input mix of capital and labor.
D) employ more of both capital and labor.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
63. Which of the following is true at every point on the expansion path?
A) It shows the combinations of inputs having the maximum productivity.
B) It shows the various levels of output that can be produced using a given level of inputs.
C) It shows the various combinations of inputs that can be used to produce a given level of output.
D) It shows the maximum output attainable at a given cost.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
65. Suppose a firm that uses labor and capital as the only inputs in production is currently on the
long-run expansion path. The marginal product of labor and capital at this least cost combination
are 60 units and 80 units respectively and the wage rate of labor is $6. Calculate the rental cost of
capital borne by the firm.
A) $10
B) $8
C) $5
D) $12
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
66. Assume that Donnell Corp. is currently producing 500 units of output per period, using 25
units of labor and 20 units of capital. Values for the marginal product of each input and the prices
of the inputs are as follows: MPK = 100, MPL = 200, w = 2, and r = 3. Given the information above,
which of the following is true?
A) The firm is currently using the optimal levels of capital and labor.
B) The firm should increase capital and reduce labor usage.
C) The firm should increase labor and reduce capital usage.
D) The firm is not using the optimal levels of capital and labor, and it is impossible to determine
the optimal levels from the given information.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
67. A firm is employing 100 units of labor and 50 units of capital to produce 200 widgets. Labor
costs $10 per unit and capital $5 per unit. For the quantities of inputs employed, MPL = 2 and MPK
= 5. In this situation, the firm:
A) is producing the maximum output possible given the prices and relative productivities of the
inputs.
B) could lower its production costs by using more labor and less capital.
C) could increase its output at no extra cost by using more capital and less labor.
D) should use more of both inputs in equal proportions.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
68. A firm employs 100 units of labor and 50 units of capital to produce 200 widgets. Labor costs
$10 per unit and capital costs $21 per unit. For the quantities of inputs employed, MPL = 3 and
MPK = 3. In this situation, the firm:
A) is producing the maximum amount possible at the lowest possible cost.
B) could lower its production costs by using more capital and less labor.
C) could increase its output at no extra cost by using more labor and less capital.
D) should keep its input usage unchanged.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
69. If the marginal product of labor is four times the marginal product of capital and the price of
labor is twice the price of capital, then:
A) labor will be substituted for capital by a profit maximizing firm.
B) capital will be substituted for labor by a profit maximizing firm.
C) output cannot be expanded any further by using the same input levels.
D) input usage should be left unchanged.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 222
71. Which of the following assumptions is made by economists while constructing a firm’s
marginal cost [MC] and average cost [AC] curves?
A) Input prices are constant.
B) Output is constant.
C) Output price is constant.
D) Technology will vary.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 224
72. Consider a firm that uses labor and capital as the only inputs. Suppose labor is on the
horizontal axis and capital is on the vertical axis. Further, the expansion path has shifted down and
average cost curves have shifted up. Which of following provides the most likely explanation for
what has happened?
A) The wage rate decreased
B) The wage rate increased
C) The price of capital decreased
D) The price of capital increased
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 224
73. Suppose a firm is using two inputs, labor and capital. What will happen if the price of labor
falls?
A) The firm's average cost curve will shift upward.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 225
74. Which of the following depicts the change in per-unit cost of production resulting from a
decrease in the input prices, given the output produced by the firm is constant?
A) An upward shift of the marginal cost curve
B) A rightward shift of the total cost curve
C) A downward shift of the average cost curve
D) An upward shift of the isocost curve
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 227
75. Which of the following explains the shape of the long-run average cost curve?
A) Returns to scale
B) Returns to labor
C) Returns to capital
D) Rental rate on capital
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 228
76. Which of the following is guaranteed by increasing returns to scale in production experienced
in the long run?
A) Negative marginal costs
B) Zero average costs
C) Declining average costs
D) Rising marginal costs
Answer: C
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
77. If constant returns to scale apply to the entire range of production, then the long-run total cost
curve would most likely:
A) be a straight line from the origin.
B) to increase at a decreasing rate initially, and then increase at an increasing rate.
C) to increase at an increasing rate initially, and then increase at a decreasing rate.
D) be U-shaped.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 228
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 228
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
80. Suppose the government restricts the amount of capital equipment firms can purchase in an
attempt to increase employment. If a firm expands output then its long-run average costs will be:
A) less than they would be without the restriction.
B) more than they would be without the restriction.
C) the same as they would be without the restriction.
D) uncertain. Need more information
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
81. Assume that with 20L and 30K a given firm can produce 100 units of output and with 40L and
60K it can produce 175 units (where L and K denote the labor and capital inputs). Based on this
information, we can conclude that:
A) decreasing returns to scale exist.
B) average cost is decreasing.
C) average cost is constant.
D) increasing returns to scale exist.
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
85. Suppose a bakery is currently producing 1,500 loaves of bread per day using 20 workers and 80
units of capital. After hiring five more workers and twenty additional units of capital, the firm’s
output increases by 600 loaves per day. This change exhibits:
A) increasing marginal product of labor.
B) constant returns scale.
C) economies of scale.
D) diminishing marginal product of labor.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229
86. Suppose a firm has two plants producing the same good. Each plant is producing 200 units of
the good. In plant A, the short run average cost of production is $20 and in plant B it is $30. If the
firm wants to produce a total of 400 units at the lowest cost in the long run, it should:
A) switch production from plant B to plant A until the average cost of production at each plant is
the same.
B) produce only at plant A and shut down plant B.
C) switch production from plant B to plant A until the average cost is the same at the two plants.
D) continue to use the same input ratio.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 229-230
87. Long-run costs of production are generally lower than the short run costs because:
A) all inputs are fixed in the long run.
B) firms cannot change their scale of production in the long run.
C) there is greater flexibility in input usage in the long run.
D) there is no scope for learning by doing in the long run.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 230
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 230
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 230
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
90. When average costs fall as output increases, it is due to _____; when they fall at a given level
of output it is due to _____.
A) economies of scale; learning by doing
B) economies of scale; diseconomies of scale
C) learning by doing; economies of scale
D) learning by doing; diseconomies of scale
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
94. Some firms can attain lower production costs through their cumulative production experience.
The average cost curve of such firms shift downward with each successive bulk increase in total
production. The situation described above refers to:
A) economies of scale.
B) economies of scope.
C) learning by doing.
D) the familiarity index.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 231
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Importance of Cost Curves to Market Structure
Page: 232
98. Assume that the long run average cost for a representative firm in an industry is minimized at
$10 per unit of output. Further assume that total industry output is X at a price of $10, and that each
firm in this industry produces 0.2X at an average cost of $10. Under these conditions we would
expect the market to have:
A) a single firm.
B) two firms.
C) infinite number of firms.
D) five firms.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Importance of Cost Curves to Market Structure
Page: 232
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Importance of Cost Curves to Market Structure
Page: 232
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
100. The technological relationships reflected in the firms' long run cost curves are an important
factor in determining the market structure of an industry because:
A) they determine the size of the market.
B) they influence the price elasticity of demand for the product.
C) they influence the demand for the product in the short run.
D) they determine the number of firms that can exist in an industry in the long run.
Answer: D
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Importance of Cost Curves to Market Structure
Page: 233
101. Economic analysis suggests that if the marginal cost of pollution abatement differs for two
firms, the least cost pollution abatement strategy would require:
A) that both firms are limited to the same total pollution.
B) that the firms engage in different levels of pollution abatement but incur the same marginal cost
of abatement.
C) that the firms engage in different levels of pollution abatement as long as they incur different
marginal costs.
D) that the firms engage in different levels of pollution abatement but incur the same opportunity
cost.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Using Cost Curves: Controlling Pollution
Page: 235
102. If the marginal cost of pollution abatement differs between two firms, the total cost of
pollution abatement can be lowered by:
A) increasing abatement where its marginal cost is high and reducing it where marginal cost is
lower.
B) decreasing abatement where its average cost is high and reducing it where average cost is lower.
C) increasing abatement where its marginal cost is less and reducing it where marginal cost is
greater.
D) decreasing abatement where its marginal cost is less and increasing it where marginal cost is
greater.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Using Cost Curves: Controlling Pollution
Page: 236
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Economies of Scope
Page: 237
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Economies of Scope
Page: 237
105. Dine-in restaurants provide two distinct products, food and a place to sit and eat. This is an
example of:
A) economics of scale.
B) economies of scope.
C) a poor pricing strategy.
D) a loss leader.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Economies of Scope
Page: 237
106. Consider the cubic total cost function TC = a + bQ + cQ2 + dQ3, where a = 0, b = 25, c = -10,
and d = 1. The firm's minimum efficient scale would be an output of _____ units.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
A) ten
B) five
C) one
D) two
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Estimating Cost Functions
Page: 239
107. For the cubic total cost function TC = a + bQ + cQ2 + dQ3, where a = 0, b = 25, c = -10, and d
= 1, the firm’s average variable cost is minimized at an output of:
A) ten.
B) five.
C) two.
D) one.
Answer: B
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Estimating Cost Functions
Page: 239
108. For the cubic total cost function TC = a + bQ + cQ2 + dQ3, where a = 0, b = 25, c = -10, and d
= 1, the marginal cost at an output of one unit equals:
A) $0.
B) $5.
C) $8.
D) $10.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Estimating Cost Functions
Page: 239
109. Which of the following is true for the cubic total cost function TC = a + bQ + cQ2 + dQ3,
where a = 0, b = 25, c = -10, and d = 1?
A) Marginal cost equals average total cost
B) Marginal cost equals average variable cost
C) Total cost equals total variable cost
D) Total cost equals total fixed cost
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Estimating Cost Functions
Page: 239
110. A firm incurs a total cost of $500 per day for producing 10 semi-electronic toys. When its
production increases to 15 toys, the total cost rises to $700. The firm observes that at each level of
output between 10 toys and 15 toys, the marginal cost of production is below the average cost of
production. Which of the following can be definitely concluded about the firm’s cost curves when
its output is anywhere between 10 toys and 15 toys?
A) The marginal cost curve is positively sloped for this range of output
B) The total fixed cost curve is negatively sloped for this range of output.
C) The average cost curve is negatively sloped for this range of output.
D) The average variable cost curve is positively sloped for this range of output.
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Mathematics behind Production Cost
Page: 240
111. At 20 units of output, the slope of a firm’s average cost curve is recorded as +1.5. Calculate
the firm’s average cost at this output level if its marginal cost is $300.
A) $270
B) $300
C) $230
D) $200
Answer: A
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: The Mathematics behind Production Cost
Page: 240
112. At 30 units of output, the slope of a firm’s average cost curve is recorded as +1.20. Calculate
the firm’s marginal cost at this output level if its average cost is $300.
A) $300
B) $130
C) $336
D) $120
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: C
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: The Mathematics behind Production Cost
Page: 240
Short Answers
113. For the total variable cost (TVC) curve below, draw a total cost curve and a positive total
fixed cost (TFC) curve. Then derive the associated marginal cost (MC), average total cost (ATC),
average variable (AVC), and average fixed cost (AFC) curves. Explain the appropriate
relationships among the curves.
Answer:
Total Cost
TC
TVC
Slope=min ATC
Slope=min AVC
TFC
O Q1 Q2 Q3 Output
Per-unit
cost MC ATC
AVC
AFC
O Q1 Q2 Q3 Output
Total fixed cost is simply a horizontal line in the Total Cost (TC) graph. Note that there are two
graphs. Did you remember to draw a separate graph for the per-unit curves (MC, AFC, AVC,
ATC)? The TC curve is above the TVC curve by exactly TFC at all points. Now derive the per-unit
cost curves in the bottom graph. AVC is a U-shaped curve because the slope of a ray from origin in
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
the Total Cost graph to any point on the TVC curve at first falls and then rises, with the min AVC
at output level q2. Note that the horizontal axis is “output” in both the Total Cost and Per-Unit Cost
graphs, so we can drop the arrows down from output level q2 and find the minimum AVC in the
lower graph.
Next, draw the marginal cost curve (MC). We know that MC intersects AVC at the latter’s
minimum point. This is because of the relationship between marginal and average. When MC is
below AVC, AVC will decline; when MC is above AVC, AVC rises. Thus, when AVC is at a
minimum, MC = AVC. Similar reasoning requires that MC also intersects the ATC curve at ATC’s
minimum.
Note that MC is also a U-shaped curve. MC is the slope of TC (or of TVC because a change in
fixed cost is zero). We can see that the slope of TC initially falls and then begins to rise after the
inflection point at output level q1.
We must also capture the relationship between ATC and AVC. ATC is U-shaped for the same
reasons that AVC was U-shaped above. The slope of a ray from the origin in the Total Cost graph
to any point on the TC curve at first falls and then rises, and the min ATC is at output level q3. The
ATC curve asymptotically approaches AVC because their difference, AFC, approaches zero as
output rises to infinity. So your ATC curve should get closer and closer to AVC as you move along
the horizontal axis (i.e., as output rises). Note that the minimum of ATC is slightly larger than the
minimum of AVC. In other words, q2 does not equal q3. This is because ATC = AFC + AVC and
when AVC is at a minimum at q2, AFC is falling (it is always falling as output rises), so it takes a
bit more output before the rising AVC overtakes the still falling AFC. Thus, q2 < q3. Do not draw
the minimum of ATC directly above the minimum of your AVC curve.
Finally, since AFC = TFC/q and TFC never changes, then as q increases, the AFC curve
continually falls and asymptotically approaches zero (it does not intersect the horizontal axis).
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 213-215
114. Do you think the marginal cost curve of a petroleum refinery will be U-shaped? Explain your
answer.
Answer: Oil refineries are large scale plants, processing about a hundred thousand to several
hundred thousand barrels of crude oil a day. They use high-end technology and machinery for their
production. The marginal cost of production in this industry will decline when production increases
at low levels of output because the potential capacity of the fixed plant and equipment is quite high.
When the refinery reaches the output level where all its plant and equipment is put to the optimum
use, marginal cost will reach its minimum. Thereafter, if the refinery tries to over utilize the
existing plant and equipment the marginal cost of production will increase as diminishing returns to
capital will set in.
The shape of the marginal cost curve indicates that the cost of producing additional units of output
initially declines, reaches a minimum, and thereafter starts rising. Marginal cost falls at first
because the fixed plant and equipment are not designed to produce very low rates of output, and
production is very expensive when output is low. Declining marginal cost comes to an end at some
point, and thereafter marginal cost rises with output. Eventually, marginal cost must rise because
the plant will ultimately be over utilized as output expands beyond the level for which it was
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
designed. At that point, marginal cost begins to rise, and each additional unit of output costs more
than the previous one.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Short-Run Cost Curves
Page: 214
115. On the following per-unit cost graph, show two ways to identify total fixed cost. Explain your
answer.
Per-unit
cost MC ATC
AVC
AFC
Output
Answer:
Per-unit
q2 ATC
cost MC
a d AVC
b
c
f
e
AFC
O q1 Output
Rectangles “abcd” and “efq1O” both represent Total Fixed Costs. In other words, they have equal
areas. Why? ATC = AFC + AVC. Therefore, ATC – AVC = AFC. Now to get TFC from AFC
we multiply by q. That gives us the area abcd for output level q2. The other way to depict TFC in
this figure is to find the AFC at a given output level (directly from the AFC curve) and multiply it
with the output level. Thus, for q1 level of output, TFC = Oq1*f q1 = area efq1O.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
116. (a) Consider a firm which produces baseball bats using wood and workers. On a graph with
capital (wood) on the vertical axis and labor (workers) on the horizontal axis, draw an isoquant and
isocost line such that the firm is minimizing the total cost of producing Q1 baseball bats. Let this
initial point be profit-maximizing.
Answer: Let the price of wood be r and the price of labor be w. The firm will minimize the total
cost of producing Q1 bats at total cost, TC1. They will employ La workers (note that you can also
think of this as hiring workers for La hours of work) and Ka units of capital. At the tangency point
a, MPL/w1 = MPK/r1 indicating that the firm is minimizing costs.
Capital
TC1/r1
(b) Suppose forest fires cause the price of wood to rise. Trace the effects of this change on the
firm’s optimal combination of inputs. Will they now produce more or less than Q1 bats? Why?
Answer: Let the price of wood be r and the price of labor be w. The tangency point a in the figure,
MPL/w1 = MPK/r1 indicates that the firm is minimizing costs. We are told that the firm is
maximizing profits at point a.
Now the price of capital rises to r2. This will cause the vertical intercept of the isocost line to shift
down. To produce the same Q1 bats at the new prices, w1 and r2, the firm should operate at point b.
This is found by moving the new isocost line out parallel until it is tangent to the original Q1
isoquant. Since capital is now relatively more expensive, the firm shifts toward labor (Lb > La) and
away from capital (Kb < Ka); this is the input substitution effect. The minimum cost to produce Q1
bats has risen from TC1 to TC2. Higher total cost implies that the firm’s average cost and marginal
cost curves will shift up (not shown). Since marginal cost rises and marginal revenue stays the
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
same, we now have MC > MR at point b! Thus, point b is not profit-maximizing. Since MC >
MR, the firm should produce fewer than Q1 bats, thus lowering its MC until it again equals MR. In
the graph above, we have assumed that production falls to Q2 bats and inputs are Lc and Kc. Note
that the final input combination does not have to end up on the intermediate isocost line; that would
simply be by coincidence. We know that the firm will move backward down the expansion path
through point b. Note that any expansion path is unique for the given input prices. When input
prices change, we must consider a new expansion path.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 224-225
117. Talco Inc., a manufacturer of steel pipes, uses 500 workers and 100 machines to produce
10,000 pipes, each 28mm thick, every day. Its operations research team reports that the marginal
productivity of labor is 40 steel pipes while that of capital is 240 steel pipes. If workers are paid $8
per day and the rental cost of capital is $40 per day, examine whether the company is following the
golden rule of cost minimization.
Answer: The golden rule of cost minimization says that to minimize cost, a firm should employ
inputs in such a way that the marginal product per dollar spent is equal across all inputs. According
to the information provided in the question with respect to Talco Inc., the ratio of the marginal
product of labor to the cost of labor is 5. On the other hand, the ratio of the marginal product of
capital to the cost of capital is 6. This implies that MPL/w is less than MPK/r. Therefore, the
company is currently not following the golden rule of cost minimization. It should ideally increase
the usage of capital (machines) and decrease the labor usage to minimize its cost.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
118. Using an isoquant and isocost curves, with labor on the horizontal axis and capital on the
vertical axis,
a) show a firm’s efficient combination of capital and labor needed to produce 100 television sets
per day. (You may use abstract quantities such as K1 and L1 or actual numbers.)
Answer:
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
At isocost1 and Q=100, the firm utilizes L1 units of labor and K1 units of capital.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 220
b) Is this the least cost means of producing this level of output? Explain.
Answer: Notice that at L1 units of labor the marginal product of labor is less than it is at L2. Notice
also that the ratio of the input prices is greater than the marginal rate of technical substitution. In
other words, at L1 units of labor and K1 units of capital, the firm can give up two units of labor and
replace it with one unit of capital and remain on the same isoquant. But at the prevailing market
prices (i.e., isocost2), the firm can decrease the amount of labor by, say, four and replace it with one
unit of capital.
What this means is that the marginal product per dollar spent across both inputs is not equal and
that the firm will consequently be a high cost producer of television sets relative to competitors.
This leaves it open for new entrants – domestic or foreign imports – to enter the market and in the
long run drive the television manufacturer out of business.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost of Production
Page: 219-222
c) Next, using a dashed line, on the same graph draw the change that would occur in the long run if
the cost of labor were to rise relative to the cost of capital and the firm’s output were to remain
fixed at 100 television sets per day.
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
Answer: The increase in the price of labor relative to capital shifts the isocost curve to isocost 2 and
the firm’s least cost means of producing 100 television sets is L2 units of labor and K2 units of
capital.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 224-225
d) Now, suppose that before the price change took effect, labor in this industry had succeeded in
protecting against job loss by forbidding firms from getting rid of labor and substituting it with
capital. Draw the new isocost curve assuming the company still wishes to produce 100 television
sets each day.
Answer: If the firm is not able to replace labor with capital, it continues operating at L1 units of
labor and K1 units of capital. Notice, however, that the price change remains in effect, which means
the firm’s cost of producing 100 television sets is greater than if it could replace some labor with
capital. This is shown by the shift from isocost2 to isocost3, a higher cost means of producing 100
television sets than either isocost1 or isocost2. (Remember, the shift from isocost1 to isocost2 was
due to the increase in the price of labor. If the firm still employs the same number of workers using
the same amount of capital, the cost associated with isocost3 must be greater.)
Difficulty Level: Hard
Section Reference: Input Price Changes and Cost Curves
Page: 224-225
e) Is labor made better off in the long run as a result of this labor saving campaign? Explain.
Answer: In the short run it appears that labor at this form is made better off due to the wage
increase, and the fact that there is no job loss. However, the cost to the firm of manufacturing 100
television sets at the new wage level using K1 units of capital and L1 units of labor is not
minimized. It is therefore not efficient given the relative prices of labor and capital. In a
competitive market this firm is likely to be driven out of the television business, which means labor
hired by this firm to produce televisions decreases to zero.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Importance of Cost Curves to Market Structure
Page: 232
119. Explain why the long-run average cost curve is usually U-shaped although all inputs are
variable in the long run?
Answer: The law of diminishing marginal return accounts for the U-shape of the short-run average
variable cost curve. In the long run, there are no fixed inputs, so the law of diminishing returns is
not directly applicable. Here, returns to scale and not returns to the factor determine how output
varies when all inputs are varied in proportion. It has been observed that increasing returns to scale
is usually common at low output levels, while decreasing returns to scale are likely to prevail at
high output levels. Increasing returns to scale mean that at higher output levels each unit of output
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
requires (on average) a smaller quantity of all inputs. Since inputs are available at fixed prices,
smaller average input requirements imply smaller average unit costs. Therefore, increasing returns
to scale imply that the average unit cost is falling. By the same reasoning, constant returns to scale
imply a constant average cost, and decreasing returns to scale imply a rising average cost. Hence,
the LRAC is also U-shaped.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Section Reference: Long-Run Cost Curves
Page: 228-229
120. Consider two firms A and B. Firm A notices that its total costs have declined by 10 percent
each time its cumulative output has doubled. Firm B notices that its average cost of production
declined by 10 percent after it increased production by 5 percent and hired 50 more workers to
work with its existing unused equipments. Explain graphically whether the experiences of these
two firms will have similar implications on the long run average cost of production.
Cost
Economies of scale
AC
Learning by
doing AC'
O Q1 Q2 Output
The decrease in the average cost of production experienced by Firm B mostly results from
economies of scale. These are cost advantages obtained by a firm due to expansion. The presence
of economies of scale when output is expanded from Q1 to Q2 units is represented by a movement
down along the average cost curve.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: Learning by Doing
Page: 230-231
Browning/Zupan – Microeconomics, 11e Test Bank
121. Consider the cost function C0 = 20L + 30K and production function Q = L0.3K0.7 of a firm.
Derive the first order conditions if the firm is maximizing its output subject to the given cost
constraint.
Answer: For dealing with a constrained optimization problem, we begin by forming the Lagrangian
expression as given below:
Z = L0.3K0.7 + λ(C0 - 20L - 30K)
The first-order conditions for a maximum involve setting the three partial derivatives
(with respect to the variables, L, K, and λ) equal to zero:
∂Z/∂L = 0.3L-0.7K0.7 - 20λ = 0
∂Z/∂K = 0.7K-0.3L0.3 - 30λ = 0
∂Z/∂λ = C0 - 20L - 30K = 0
Difficulty Level: Medium
Section Reference: The Mathematics behind Production Cost
Page: 240-241
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
L. S. Goodwin.
side talks with the philistines:
being sundry bits of wisdom
which have been heretofore
secreted, and are now set
forth in print.
If The Philistine disturbs placid self-complacency anywhere,
as one or two of its critics intimate, it is sorry, for there is no such
happiness attainable anywhere this side of Nirvana as its serene
contemplation of the charms of self which Narcissus and some more
modern fakirs exemplify; and the magazine of to-day is its gospel.
But so good a Philistine as Horace Greeley is my authority for
believing that the still pool in which self-love sees the reflection it
feeds upon is a breeder of death, not life, and effervescence is the
sworn foe of the morbid. Not the things we do that we ought not to
do, but the things left undone that we ought to do are the primary
count leading up to the confession that “there is no health in us.” The
other follows. Stagnation and the miasma of self-consciousness co-
exist and are not to be separated. Wherefore, fellow-egoists, let us
get a gait on.
I like the broad flourish with which some imaginative writers
connect widely separated events in a stroke of the pen and omit all
that lies between as mere incident. It seems to me a proof of the
theory put forward by my good friend Elbert Hubbard that genius is a
feminine element of character—in man or woman. For example, I
find this statement in the latest of the Little Journeys: “Moses was
sent adrift, but the tide carried him into power.” I didn’t know just
what that meant till I recalled the discovery of the bulrush cradle. A
less intuitive writer wouldn’t have bridged eighty years in that
summary way. He might have hinted at Moses’s police court record
—told how he killed an Egyptian for calling him a son of a Populist or
something and skun out for half a lifetime and yet became a Prince
of Egypt and spent forty years or so at court before he took the road
with the forefathers of Brickmaker Tourgee. But to connect the
condensed milk baby in the market basket on the Nile with the law-
giver of Israel in one movement, as the music people say, is a pretty
long span and suggests the liberty David Copperfield takes with his
own biography in the best book but one written by the subject of the
latest Little Journey. “I was born:” he says—and all else is irrelevant.
I take it that Mr. Hubbard agrees with John Boyle O’Reilly that “the
world was made when a man was born.” The feminine element of
genius which Mr. Hubbard tells us makes poets is manifest in that
formula. If the author of the Journeys will permit, I would suggest that
the same mother instinct that crops out there is manifested in the
grasp of a life in the compass of a sentence which puzzled me at the
first. To be born and to die is the record of existence, to which all
else is tributary; and the pangs of birth and death thrill all the poet-
strains. Only the tragedy that sweeps along the strings lives to echo
in human hearts. It is the deathless minor chord that distinguishes
the melody of true poetry from the dancing cadences of rhyme in all
literature. The undertone is the soul of all song, in verse or in the
unmeasured periods of epic prose.
Mention of Moses recalls the perhaps unique fact that a priest
of the most austere of churches rolled off a tongue, musical with
brogue, in his newspaper sanctum—for he is a priest of the pen too
—this romantic version of the basket story which I have never seen
anywhere but in his paper—then in the process of make-up:
MANUSCRIPT RECORD.
A handsome method for keeping track of manuscripts.
Contains space for recording one hundred manuscripts,
showing title, where sent, number of words, when returned or
accepted, when paid for and amount, when published,
postage account, etc. Each page a complete history of one
manuscript, from the time it is first sent out, until published
and paid for. Price, $1.25. Sent postpaid to any address on
receipt of price.
The Bohemian Publishing Co.,
Pike Building, Cincinnati, O.
All this sounds much as though it had been written by the keeper
of The Literary Shop, but I don’t believe it was. Supposing, however,
such an exhibit were held at Atlanta with the Fair now in progress.
Imagine Mr. Gilder and James Knapp Reeve, Mr. Le Gallienne and
Laura Jean Libbey, Count Tolstoi and Mrs. Mary Jane Holmes, each
in his or her own coop like a Leghorn chicken! Imagine Colonel S. S.
McClure (Limited) with his Menagerie of Trained Thoroughbreds,
each one of them exhibiting by his emaciation the horrible results of
syndicate writing! Imagine Cy Warman pawing madly at the bars of
his cage trying to tell Sweet Marie about the secret in his heart! Then
imagine Little Tin God of Philadelphia, cuddled up in his basket,
writing his masterpiece, How to Feed a Sick Kitten! To them then
would enter Major John Boyd Thacher, the pride and joy of the
Albany Democracy, and judge equally both the just and the unjust.
It’s a great idea.
One of my correspondents tells me that “the editor of the Lark
uses execrable perfume on his note paper.” This item is for the future
reference of Mr. Burgess when he writes about his literary passions.
Several solemn newspapers have taken seriously to the extent
of half a column or so the proposal of a San Francisco publishing
house to “bring out good literature in a cheap form,” which sounds
much like the advance agent talk of most publishing houses. It isn’t a
joke, to be sure, but a good deal depends on what is meant by “good
literature.” Thundering in the prologue is not a novelty, but there may
be a storm coming for all that.
I note that the brilliant Bok has gone to writing proverbs. Here is
one culled at random from “A Handful of Laconics,” printed under his
honored signature in his September output:
It may be so, but I did not know that Pluto had whiskers. And how
does Miss Boyce dispose of the legend concerning the smooth face
and giddy ways of old Mr. Pluto when he took to wife the young and
blooming Persephone? Charon wears a Vandyke as we well know;
while Mephisto is usually represented as clean-shaved or at best a
moustache and goatee; but hereafter I’ll never think of Pluto without
calling up in mind Mr. Peffer of Kansas. Go to, Fair Lady! think you
because barber shops are closed in York State on Sundays that they
are shut in Hades all the week? Next!
A lecturer on Egypt, telling the natives of Buffalo, N. Y., about
the marvels in stone built on that strip of mud, illustrated the
proportions of the Nile Valley by saying “It it eleven hundred miles
long in Egypt proper and seven miles wide for most of its length. If
the city of Buffalo were laid crosswise in the valley, it would bisect
the kingdom.” And a Rochester man who had strayed into the fold
was mean enough to add: “And if Buffalo was there, that’s the way it
would lie—cross-ways.” That’s the way they talk in Rochester.
I quote this paragraph from Alice and respectfully refer it to the
editor of Mlle New York with the hope that he can see the point as
plainly as he sees most things:
All this time the Guard was looking at her, first through a
telescope, then through a microscope, and then through an
opera glass. At last he said, “You’re travelling the wrong way,”
and shut up the window and went away.
On his way to Montreal Mr. Hall Caine stopped off one day at
East Aurora. The Pink Tea given in his honor at the office of The
Philistine was largely attended by the farmers from both up the
creek and down the creek. In fact, as my old friend Billy McGlory
used to say, “Ye cudden’t see de street fer dust.”
The Boston Commonwealth (what satire there is in that name!)
is a nice paper, but its editor has not smiled for forty years; and all of
his little writers carry so much culture that they are round-
shouldered, flat-chested, bow-legged and near-sighted. They belong
to the large class that invariably miss the point of things and use
dignity for a mask to hide their lack of a sense of fun. The
Commonwealth accuses us of being envious of the Chip-Munk; of
being violently prejudiced against Mr. Cudahy’s book, and of
speaking irreverently of Boston. Go to thou old granny
Commonwealth, why sit you like your grandsire carved in alabaster
and creep into the jaundice by being peevish?
The Book-Peddler is doing great service in promotion of what
passes for literature in the paper and ink stores. I cannot but think
what a similar publication devoted to literature, not trade, could do to
save the valuable time of the reading public. Since Solomon’s time a
good many things have changed, but in one there is no
improvement. “Of the making of many books there is no end,” and
that is a heap sadder than the lamentation of Maud Muller and His
Honor.
Concerning Mr. Grant Allen’s book and the manner in which its
title has been made the basis of several others more or less
reminiscent, my most valued correspondent writes me that the
novelists are missing much by not calling a story The Woman Who Is
Simply Dying To. In my well known philanthropic way I throw out this
suggestion hoping that somebody may make many dollars by the
adoption of the title for a decadent tale.
The Vanastorbilts are really under great obligations to Mrs.
Rorer’s Household News for the simple daily menus for poor folks
which are a feature. There’s nothing so cheap as good living—in a
magazine. When bread sticks and banana chutney and peaches and
rice and cantaloupe can be mowed away by a poor man before the
seven o’clock whistle blows no hard worker ought to lack muscle for
his daily toil. We have printed assurance of Mrs. Bellow that “These
menus have been arranged on a scientific plan, are thoroughly
hygienic, and contain all that is necessary for proper living.” It is luck
after all that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the hygienic mouth aforesaid.
Messrs. Lo & Behold, publishers of works on moral pathology,
Boston, are making great efforts to club the Arena. I understand they
propose offering season tickets to museums of morbid anatomy as
prizes.
I note a somewhat guarded statement by Dr. Swan M. Burnett
denying that he and his wife have separated or are undergoing that
mutually humiliating process. All there is of it, he says, is that her
work keeps her abroad and his keeps him in Washington. The
doctor’s friends say, however, that the doctor and the writist live
apart and have done so for years and that he is tired of being
referred to as Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s husband. I think more
likely he objects to being identified at the banks and elsewhere as
the father of Little Lord Fauntleroy.
The Pell Mell Gazette of last Saturday contains a cablegram
from Mr. Hall Caine, dated at East Aurora, N. Y., wherein the author
of The Manxman reports that the prospect for next year’s crop of
ginger is very promising.
I suppose it’s all right for the publisher of Munsey’s to tell how
he made that magazine jump from 20,000 to half a million copies a
month by shutting out middlemen and reaching the hungering and
thirsting public direct. That’s his cue. If the publisher didn’t blow his
horn who would? I opine, however, that the fish would sell without it,
and that the editor of Munsey’s could tell them something a good
deal more interesting in the same space. What does the great public,
with its multitude of aims and desires, care how such an effect was
accomplished? All that could safely remain within the veil. It would
be more to the point if the editor or publisher of Mr. Bok’s collection
of wax works would tell by what miracle he got a circulation. It is
easy in the other case, regardless of the smart publisher. The time
passed long ago when a horse being led to water could be forced to
drink. The public must have wanted Munsey’s when it was shut out
by the middleman or they wouldn’t have compelled the dealers to
send for it, and that implies that there’s something in it besides self-
consciousness and the publisher’s tactical brilliancy. But how on
earth came the embodied ego and its sisters and cousins and aunts
to get a hearing anywhere? Is Ruth Ashmore, alias Bab, at the
bottom of it?
A certain gentleman of my acquaintance, having heard until he
is sick of it that it takes nine Taylors to make a man, continues to
boldly assert that it takes two Chatfields to make a Taylor.
When the Philistine was started six months ago I had no idea
that it would now have half a million subscribers.
I am reminded by a Boston newspaper of the continued
existence of a belief that criticism of books and other things more or
less remotely connected with literature is largely a matter of
prejudice and that the imprints on title pages determine the authors’
fate. Yet the same article goes on to quote the Chip-Munk firm as
proof that merit will win sometimes in spite of such drawbacks. It
seems to me the instance proves too much.
And here, just at the last, I want to set down what I have just
read in a delightful book written by Katherine Cheever Meredith—
Johanna Staats—because it seems to fit one’s mood at this time of
year. This is it:
“Oh, I play with Miss Gray Blanket and I play with Fanny.”
“Fanny? The little girl?”
“Yes. After it’s dark, you know, I play with her. Then I talk to
her. She never answers. But I play she’s so tired she can’t. Of
course I can’t play that when it’s light. For then I could see
that she wasn’t there. But in the dark she might be.”
“Exactly,” responded Poole abstractedly. He was thinking
that many men and women indulge in the same game.
Sometimes with their faith in each other; but more often,
though, with their creeds.
FANFARRONADE.
Let no man deem himself of Fate the King,
Or challenge Fortune with a voice defiant—
A tiny pebble in a shepherd’s sling
Once overthrew a proud and boastful giant.
Clarence Urmy.
NOTHING BUT LEAVES.
It was one of those November days when the wind swoops down the
mountain sides, bringing an avalanche of leaves—disked oak leaves
—and then leaving them for a moment in the valley basin, gathers
them in her mighty hands and tosses them again almost to the
mountain tops.
Chris found a sympathy in the dizzy, whirling, swirling leaves. His
hopes had withered so, and now a girl’s changeful hand had been as
reckless with him as was the wind with these: like wrath in death and
envy afterwards.
Poor Chris’s spiritual kingdom was suffering the nature of an
insurrection, for though he loved her he was too proud to tell her she
had misjudged him. The dissipation of his hopes now was tinged
with regret, just as the wanton winds seem to us ruthless as we
remember when these leaves were planes and green, not disked
and brown.
Mockingly came the dance of leaves around his feet—each like a
thing alive—to beckon him here, there, to elude him, to laugh at him.
“It’s too hard to bear!” groaned Chris, between his teeth. “How
could she believe it! How could she!”
A flurry of hurrying, scurrying leaves swept past him, a company of
mocking, dancing leaves; from right and left they came, and scarce
ten steps before him they met and swirled up—up into a monstrous
wraith with beckoning hands. Chris’s conflict took form. “I’ll do it! I’ll
do it! I’ll show her! She’ll regret this day!” and he threw back his head
and with flashing eyes started forward with resolute steps.
A lost leaf wavered, dipped, paused, then with a timid wafture
touched his crisp curls.
His blood surged up, for it was like the caress of a loving hand.
“Oh no,” said Chris, “I may be wrong—I’ll tell her so;” and holding
the lost leaf very gently between his two hands he walked swiftly
back.
Honor Easton.