Davidson
College Mark C.
Foley
Department
of Economics Fall 2002
Due Friday, October 4th,
in class[*]
Short Answers
1.
Define isoquant. What is measured on
the axes of a diagram with isoquants?
What is the relationship between the isoquant map and the production
function?
2.
Isoquants are downward-sloping, non-intersecting, convex curves. Explain the basis for each of these
characteristics.
3.
For a particular combination of capital and labor we know that the marginal
product of capital is 6 units of output and that the marginal rate of technical
substitution is 3 units of capital per unit of labor. What is the marginal product of labor?
4.
If a firm’s isoquants were straight lines, what would that imply about the two
inputs? Is this realistic – give an
example of why or why not?
5.
If a firm’s isoquants were L-shaped, what would that imply about the two
inputs? Is this realistic – give an
example of why or why not?
Textbook Problems & Applications
Ch.
13 Problems 2 & 9