Question

In: Economics

3.4 Factor prices question Imagine Bavis is producing economics degrees following production function q(L, K) =...

3.4 Factor prices question

Imagine Bavis is producing economics degrees following production function q(L, K) = L^0.5 K^2. In the short run, capital is fixed at ̄K= 5. Bavis faces price p = 150 and can hire as many workers as it would like at a constant wage w = 75.

A. Find equilibrium labor (L∗) and wages.

B. What are Bavis’s profits at this equilibrium?

C. Prove that this profit level is a global maximum.

- Thank you!

Solutions

Expert Solution

a)

q = L0.5K2  

K = 5  

q = L0.5(5)2

Short run production function

q = 25L0.5

profit = pq - wL  

= 150(25)L0.5 - 75L

= 3750L0.5 - 75L  

d/dL = 3750(0.5)L0.5 - 1  - 75  

d/dL = 1875 L- 0.5 - 75  

put  d/dL = 0  

1875 L- 0.5 - 75 = 0  

1875 L- 0.5 = 75  

1875 = 75L0.5    

L0.5 = 25  

L* = 625  

q = 25L0.5  

= 25(625)0.5 = 625  

b) Profit   = pq - wL  

= 625625 - 75625  

= 390,625 - 46,875 = 343,750  

c) Now

d/dL = 1875 L- 0.5 - 75  

d2/dL2 = 1875(- 0.5)L- 0.5 - 1    

= - 937.5 L- 1.5    < 0  

Therefore Profit is maximum at L = 625  


Related Solutions

Question#1: Based on the aggregate production function: GDP = FT (L, K, H) a. Imagine that...
Question#1: Based on the aggregate production function: GDP = FT (L, K, H) a. Imagine that the amount of capital K increases by 10% (from 50 to 55 units) while labour and technology stay the same. How much does total GDP and GDP per worker change by? (A specific percentage is not needed, just ‘more than’ / ‘less than’ 10%.) b. Imagine that capital increases by 5 units again, from 55 to 60. How big is the resulting change in...
Suppose that output Q is produced with the production function Q = f(K;L), where K is...
Suppose that output Q is produced with the production function Q = f(K;L), where K is the number of machines used, and L the number of workers used. Assuming that the price of output p and the wage w and rental rate of capital r are all constant, what would the prot maximizing rules be for the hiring of L and K? (b) What is theMRTSK;L for the following production function: Q = 10K4L2? Is this technology CRS, IRS or...
Suppose that output Q is produced with the production function Q = f(K,L), where K is...
Suppose that output Q is produced with the production function Q = f(K,L), where K is the number of machines used, and L the number of workers used. Assuming that the price of output p and the wage w and rental rate of capital r are all constant, what would the profit maximizing rules be for the hiring of L and K? (b) What is the MRTSK,L for the following production function: Q = 10K4L2? Is this technology CRS, IRS...
Consider production function Q= L^3 * K^4 - L^2 (a) Determine the MRTS L,K for this...
Consider production function Q= L^3 * K^4 - L^2 (a) Determine the MRTS L,K for this production function (b) Does this production function have an uneconomic region? If so, describe the region algebraically. (Hint: your answer will be an inequality like this: K<5L)
Suppose the production function of a firm is given by q=L^1/4 K^1/4. The prices of labor...
Suppose the production function of a firm is given by q=L^1/4 K^1/4. The prices of labor and capital are given by and w=10 and r=20, respectively. Write down the firm’s cost minimization problem. What returns to scale does the production function exhibit? Explain. What is the Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution  (MRTS) between capital and labor? What is the optimal capital to labor ratio? Show your work.
Consider the following aggregate production function: Y=100×L×K, where A is the total factor productivity, K is...
Consider the following aggregate production function: Y=100×L×K, where A is the total factor productivity, K is the amount of capital in the economy, L is the labour force, and Y is the GDP. Is this aggregate production function exhibiting the constant returns to scale? Explain how you know. (2) Is this aggregate production function exhibiting the diminishing marginal product of capital? Explain how you know. (2) In 1867, the government employed 6% of the country’s workers. Since then, the country’s...
Consider the firm with production function given by q = f ( L , K )...
Consider the firm with production function given by q = f ( L , K ) = L ^(1/4) K^(1/4). If w = r = 4, what is the change in the producer surplus when the price increases from $16 to $32? (round your answer to one decimal place if necessary)
Cobb-Douglas...again Consider the Cobb-Douglas production function function of the form, q(k, l) = k α l...
Cobb-Douglas...again Consider the Cobb-Douglas production function function of the form, q(k, l) = k α l 1−α (a) Determine the relation between α and the marginal product of k and l. For what values of α is the marginal product for each input: (i) increasing, (ii) constant, and, (iii) decreasing. (b) Show that the marginal rate of technical substitution (MRTS) is equal to α 1 − α l k . For what values of α is MRTS decreasing in k?...
A rm has production function q = K^1/3 L^2/3. Input prices are w = 1 for...
A rm has production function q = K^1/3 L^2/3. Input prices are w = 1 for labor (L), and r=1 for capital (K). a. Write down the firm's Cost Minimization Problem. Derive the optimality conditions. b. Define the optimal choice of inputs, i.e. solve the Cost Minimization problem above for K and L. c. What is the total cost to produce q=4 units of output?
Firm A's production function is the following: Q= Q(L,K)= 20LK Calculte the demand functions for labor...
Firm A's production function is the following: Q= Q(L,K)= 20LK Calculte the demand functions for labor and capital
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT