Question

The production function at Ginko’s Copy Shop is
q = 1,000 * min(L, 3K), where q is the number
of copies per hour, L is the number of workers, and
K is the number of copy machines. As an example,
if L = 4 and K = 1, then min(L, 3K) = 3, and
q = 3,000.
a. Draw the isoquants for this production function.
b. Draw the total product, average product, and
marginal product of labor curves for this production function for some fixed level of capital.

Answer 1

a. Isoquants show all those combinations of factors which produce same level of output for the production function. Usually they are downward-sloping bowled-in curves.

b. The total product is TP = q = 1,000 * min(L, 3K), which is an upward-sloping curve, average product of labor AP = TP/L is a downward-sloping curve, and marginal product of labor curve MP = change in TP/change in L and is also downward-sloping for this production function for some fixed level of capital.