Making Product Decisions 4.3 Productivity—The amount of goods produced per unit of input.(Efficiency) Total Product Output—All the product that a company makes in a given period of time. Marginal Product—The change in output generated by adding one more unit of input. Pizza—5 people produce 100 pizzas/day Add 1 more person: 115 pizzas produced/day What was the marginal product? ______
Law of Diminishing Returns Describes the effect that varying the level of an input has on total and marginal product. (Productivity increases up to a point, then the marginal product starts to fall.) Ex. Pizza owner applying laborers to the kitchen? When do returns start to fall?
Diminishing Marginal Utility # PeoplePizzas SoldAvg. Person Marginal Product
Marginal Returns 4.3 Increasing Marginal Returns— Diminishing Marginal Returns— Negative Marginal Returns— (See Figure 4.5 transparency)
Marginal Returns--Visual
Cost of Production 4.3 The costs of production directly affects the amount of profit businesses make. Ex. Sat. morning time to mow 1 lawn: You are paid $20 1 takes 1 hour to mow, other takes 2 hrs. Which do you mow? Why? Husqvarna stealth lawn mower $2399 Watch out lawn businesses!
Costs of Production 4.3 Fixed Costs—Production costs that do not change as the level of output changes. Ex. Rent, taxes, salaries Depreciation—The lessening value of a capital good.
Depreciation Example You buy a $40,000 truck for your business: Government allows you to depreciate it: Year 1 = $8,000 Year 2 = $8,000 Year 3 = $8,000 Year 4 = $8,000 Year 5 = $8,000 Total Depreciation = $40,000 tax write off
Costs of Production 4.3 Variable Costs—Changes as the level of output changes. Ex. Raw materials, wages, Total Costs—The sum of fixed and variable production costs for a business. Marginal Costs—The additional costs of producing one more unit of output.