Unit 4 Homework Assignment

SEE FILES

1. Use the information in the accompanying chart to answer the following question(s). The firm hires labor competitively and sells its product in a competitive price-taker market.

Units of Labor

Total Output

Product

(per day)

(dollars)

Price

1

15

6

2

30

6

3

40

6

4

48

6

5

54

6

6

59

6

7

62

6

Refer to the table. What is the marginal revenue product of the fifth unit of labor?

A.  $6

B.  $36

C.  $54

D.  $324

1. What is the relationship between the marginal revenue product (MRP) and the demand curve for labor?

1. Assume the labor market for loggers is perfectly competitive. How would each of the following events influence the wage rate loggers are paid?

A. Consumers boycott products made from wood.

B. Loggers form a union that requires longer apprenticeships, charges high fees, and uses other devices designed to reduce union membership.

1. Suppose states pass laws requiring public school teachers to have a master’s degree in order to retain their teaching certificates. What effect would this legislation have on the labor market for teachers?

1. Some economists argue that the American Medical Association and the American Bar Association create an effect on labor markets similar to that of a labor union. Do you agree?

1. Suppose each family in the United States earned an equal money income. What would be the effect?

1. Would free health care reduce poverty, as measured by the government? Would free public housing, daycare, and job training for the poor reduce the poverty rate? Explain.

1. List the major government cash assistance and in-kind transfer programs to assist the poor. Which of the programs is not exclusively for the poor?

1. Explain how the presence of a superstar basketball player can increase the marginal revenue product of the other players on the team.

1. Describe the advantages that a negative income tax has over other programs that have the same purpose.