1) Part A: How do we measure labor
productivity? How do changes in labor productivity affect the U.S.
standard of living? Does an increase in labor productivity always
leads to an increase in standard of living, explain?
Part B: According to the life-cycle hypothesis, what
is the typical pattern of saving and spending for an individual
over his or her lifetime? What impact does this pattern have on the
saving rate in the overall economy?
Discuss the problems of measuring productivity in actual work
situations.
How might productivity be measured for each of the following
industries?
a.
Education(e.g.,elementaryandsecondaryeducation,highereducation—undergraduate
and graduate)
b. Government (e.g., the Social Security Office, the Internal
Revenue Service)
c. Manufacturing (e.g., soap and toothpaste, computers, heavy
machinery)
d. Finance and insurance (e.g., banks, insurance companies,
brokerage houses)
Discuss in detail how economists measure productivity. Also
discuss concepts behind labor productivity, the productivity
paradox and explanations of the apparent productivity paradox.
Discuss in detail traditional financial methods used to evaluate
investment decisions including present value (NPV), internal rate
of return (IRR), and payback period including scenarios when one
over the other would be more appropriate
Explain how an increase in technology, which increases the
productivity of labor, will affect the labor market, the production
function, and aggregate output. Provide graphs to illustrate.
Artificial Intelligence could reverse the slowing trend in
productivity gains in the U.S. What is the difference between
"Machine Learning" and
"Deep Learning"? give examples of each.
For those of you with current or previous work experience, how
is (was) productivity measured in your organization. Discuss the
concepts of total production, average production and marginal
production. Relate production to cost and discuss how the ideas of
total cost, average cost and marginal cost are used in decision
making.
Complete the table by calculating marginal productivity (MP) of
labor and average productivity (AP) of labor. Then plot the total
product, MP, and AP and explain the relationship between MP and AP.
Why does MP first rise and then decline?
Inputs of Labor
Total Production
Marginal Productivity
Average Productivity
0
0
1
15
2
34
3
51
4
65
5
74
6
80
7
83
8
82
Chapter 12 discusses the resource markets, labor, and
productivity. Can you discuss how productivity gains are the source
of higher wages? What about some professions that don't demand
special skills but still get higher wages year by year. What
justifies that?
While labor productivity refers specifically to the ratio of
output per labor unit, multifactor productivity involves more of a
big picture perspective. This type of productivity measures
economic performance by comparing total production to total inputs
that were used in production.
Go to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
and review the section on Multifactor Productivity.
Please provide the following information:
Explain what is meant by "MFP is also developed for 2- and
3-digit Standard Industrial Classification...