Problems

1.Assume that in 2012 national income in the United States was $11,186.9 billion. In the same year, 137 million workers were employed, at an average wage of $57,526 per worker per year.

  • a. How much compensation of employees was paid in the United States in 2012?
  • b. Analyze the factor distribution of income. What percentage of national income was received in the form of compensation to employees in 2012?
  • c. Suppose the supply of labor rises due to an increase in the retirement age. What happens to the percentage of national income received in the form of compensation of employees?

2.Marty’s Frozen Yogurt has the production function per day shown in the accompanying table. The equilibrium wage rate for a worker is $80 per day. Each cup of frozen yogurt sells for $2.

Quantity of labor (workers) Quantity of frozen yogurt (cups)
0     0
1 110
2 200
3 270
4 300
5 320
6 330
  • a. Calculate the marginal product of labor for each worker and the value of the marginal product of labor per worker.
  • b. How many workers should Marty employ?

3.Patty’s Pizza Parlor has the production function per hour shown in the accompanying table. The hourly wage rate for each worker is $10. Each pizza sells for $2.

Quantity of labor (workers) Quantity of pizza
0   0
1   9
2 15
3 19
4 22
5 24
  • a. Calculate the marginal product of labor for each worker and the value of the marginal product of labor per worker.
  • b. Draw the value of the marginal product of labor curve. Use your diagram to determine how many workers Patty should employ.
  • c. Now the price of pizza increases to $4. Calculate the value of the marginal product of labor per worker, and draw the new value of the marginal product of labor curve in your diagram. Use your diagram to determine how many workers Patty should employ now.

4.The production function for Patty’s Pizza Parlor is given in the table in Problem 3. The price of pizza is $2, but the hourly wage rate rises from $10 to $15. Use a diagram to determine how Patty’s demand for workers responds as a result of this wage rate increase.

5.Patty’s Pizza Parlor initially had the production function given in the table in Problem 3. A worker’s hourly wage rate was $10, and pizza sold for $2. Now Patty buys a new high-tech pizza oven that allows her workers to become twice as productive as before. That is, the first worker now produces 18 pizzas per hour instead of 9, and so on.

  • a. Calculate the new marginal product of labor and the new value of the marginal product of labor.
  • b. Use a diagram to determine how Patty’s hiring decision responds to this increase in the productivity of her workforce.

6.Jameel runs a driver education school. The more driving instructors he hires, the more driving lessons he can sell. But because he owns a limited number of training automobiles, each additional driving instructor adds less to Jameel’s output of driving lessons. The accompanying table shows Jameel’s production function per day. Each driving lesson can be sold at $35 per hour.

Quantity of labor (driving instructors) Quantity of driving lessons (hours)
0   0
1   8
2 15
3 21
4 26
5 30
6 33

Determine Jameel’s labor demand schedule (his demand schedule for driving instructors) for each of the following daily wage rates for driving instructors: $160, $180, $200, $220, $240, and $260.

7.Dale and Dana work at a self-service gas station and convenience store. Dale opens up every day, and Dana arrives later to help stock the store. They are both paid the current market wage of $9.50 per hour. But Dale feels he should be paid much more because the revenue generated from the gas pumps he turns on every morning is much higher than the revenue generated by the items that Dana stocks. Assess this argument.

8.Your local newspaper publishes an article stating that the wage of farmworkers in Mexico is $11 an hour but the wage of immigrant Mexican farmworkers in California is $9 an hour.

  • a. Assume that the output sells for the same price in the two countries. Does this imply that the marginal product of labor of farmworkers is higher in Mexico or in California? Explain your answer, and illustrate with a diagram that shows the demand and supply curves for labor in the respective markets. In your diagram, assume that the quantity supplied of labor for any given wage rate is the same for Mexican farmworkers as it is for immigrant Mexican farmworkers in California.
  • b. Now suppose that farmwork in Mexico is more arduous and more dangerous than farmwork in California. As a result, the quantity supplied of labor for any given wage rate is not the same for Mexican farmworkers as it is for immigrant Mexican farmworkers in California. How does this change your answer to part a? What concept best accounts for the difference between wage rates between Mexican farmworkers and immigrant Mexican farmworkers in California?
  • c. Illustrate your answer to part b with a diagram. In this diagram, assume that the quantity of labor demanded for any given wage rate is the same for Mexican employers as it is for Californian employers.

9.Research consistently finds that despite nondiscrimination policies, African-American workers on average receive lower wages than White workers do. What are the possible reasons for this? Are these reasons consistent with marginal productivity theory?

10.Wendy works at a fast-food restaurant. When her wage rate was $5 per hour, she worked 30 hours per week. When her wage rate rose to $6 per hour, she decided to work 40 hours. But when her wage rate rose further to $7, she decided to work only 35 hours.

  • a. Draw Wendy’s individual labor supply curve.
  • b. Is Wendy’s behavior irrational, or can you find a ration al explanation? Explain your answer.

11.You are the governor’s economic policy adviser. The governor wants to put in place policies that encourage employed people to work more hours at their jobs and that encourage unemployed people to find and take jobs. Assess each of the following policies in terms of reaching that goal. Explain your reasoning in terms of income and substitution effects, and indicate when the impact of the policy may be ambiguous.

  • a. The state income tax rate is lowered, which has the effect of increasing workers’ after-tax wage rate.
  • b. The state income tax rate is increased, which has the effect of decreasing workers’ after-tax wage rate.
  • c. The state property tax rate is increased, which reduces workers’ after-tax income.

12.A study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found that between 1965 and 2003 the average American’s leisure time increased by between 4 and 8 hours a week. The study claims that this increase is primarily driven by a rise in wage rates.

  • a. Use the income and substitution effects to describe the labor supply for the average American. Which effect dominates?
  • b. The study also found an increase in female labor force participation—more women were choosing to hold jobs rather than exclusively perform household tasks. For the average woman who had newly entered the labor force, which effect dominates?
  • c. Draw typical individual labor supply curves that illustrate your answers to part a and part b above.

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