With capital held constant, when Zane employs one additional worker, the marginal product of labor decreases by units. Which economic concept best characterizes Zane’s production process?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Marginal product of labor (MPL) is defined as the change in total output (ΔQ) resulting from a one-unit change in labor (ΔL = 1): MPL = ΔQ/ΔL. The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns states that, with at least one input fixed (here, capital held constant), successive equal additions of a variable input (labor) will eventually produce smaller increments in output; i.e., MPL falls.

Step-by-step reasoning:
1. Identify given facts: capital is fixed; Zane hires one additional worker; the marginal product of labor decreases. Write MPL before the hire as MPL1 and after the hire as MPL2. The statement "MPL decreases" means MPL2 < MPL1.
2. Express the change mathematically: ΔMPL = MPL2 − MPL1 < 0. Because ΔL = 1 for one extra worker, MPL = ΔQ. So the extra output produced by the additional worker is smaller than the extra output produced by the previous worker.
3. Connect to the principle: This pattern — later workers contributing less additional output than earlier workers when capital is fixed — is exactly the definition of diminishing marginal returns (also called diminishing marginal product).

Why this answer is correct:
- The observed fall in MPL when capital remains fixed matches the textbook Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns: adding more of a variable input to fixed inputs eventually reduces the marginal contribution of the variable input.

Why other potential options would be incorrect:
- Increasing marginal returns would mean MPL rises as more workers are added (MPL2 > MPL1), which contradicts the given decrease.
- Constant marginal returns would mean MPL stays the same (MPL2 = MPL1), also contradicting the decrease.
- Negative marginal returns would mean the extra worker reduces total output (MPL < 0); the prompt only says MPL decreases, not that it becomes negative.
- Returns to scale pertains to proportional changes in all inputs (long run), not the short-run effect of adding labor with capital fixed.

Conclusion: The correct characterization is Diminishing marginal returns, which matches the provided answer.

With capital held constant, when Zane employs one additional worker, the marginal product of labor decreases by units. Which economic concept best characterizes Zane’s production process?单项选择题

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