In: Economics
Complete the following labor demand table for a firm that is hiring labor competitively and selling its product in a competitive market.
Units of labor | Total product | Marginal product | Product price | Total revenue | Marginal revenue product | ||||||
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | 0 21 38 53 64 71 75 | $3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 | |||||||||
Complete the table above and Answer the following Question:
How many workers will the firm hire if the market wage rate is $28.75? Explain why the firm will not hire a larger or smaller number of units of labor at each of these wage rates.
L | TP | MP | Price | TR | MRP |
0 | 0 | 3.75 | |||
1 | 21 | 21 | 3.75 | 78.75 | 78.75 |
2 | 38 | 17 | 3.75 | 142.5 | 63.75 |
3 | 53 | 15 | 3.75 | 198.75 | 56.25 |
4 | 64 | 11 | 3.75 | 240 | 41.25 |
5 | 71 | 7 | 3.75 | 266.25 | 26.25 |
6 | 75 | 4 | 3.75 | 281.25 | 15 |
MP (nth unit) = TP (n units) - TP ((n - 1) units)
TR = P x TP
MRP = P x MP
Wage rate = $ 28.75
Workers hired = 4 (4th worker yields MRP > wage i.e. marginal revenue by addition of 4th worker > wage rate, workers are added to a point where MRP >= wage rate so as to maximize profit)