A small-scale garment factory operates in the short run with a fixed quantity of equipment… — JAMB UTME

A small-scale garment factory operates in the short run with a fixed quantity of equipment and variable labor ( $L$ ). When $3$ tailors are employed, total output ( $TP$ ) is $45$ shirts per day. When $4$ tailors are employed, total output rises to $64$ shirts per day, and when $5$ tailors are employed, total output reaches $75$ shirts per day. What is the marginal product ( $MP$ ) of the $5\text{th}$ tailor?

Answer: 11 shirts

Answer

11 shirts

The marginal product of the 5th tailor is calculated as the change in total product divided by the change in labor units:

MP_5 = TP_5 - TP_4 = 75 - 64 = 11

shirts per day.

Step-by-Step Solution

Determine the Total Product before and after employing the 5th tailor.

TP_4 = 64

shirts and

TP_5 = 75

shirts.

Marginal product measures the change in total output resulting from employing one additional unit of variable input.

Calculate the Marginal Product (

MP

) using

MP_5 = TP_5 - TP_4

MP_5 = 75 - 64 = 11

shirts.

Subtracting the output of 4 tailors from the output of 5 tailors isolates the contribution of the 5th tailor.

Key Concept

Marginal Product Calculation

Estimated Time:1m 0s

Question

Answer

Step-by-Step Solution

Key Concept

Common Mistakes

Topics

More questions from this topic