1) A) Suppose marginal productivity tripled while product price fell by half in the table below. What would be the net impact on the location of the short-run labor demand curve (in a labor demand curve of a perfectly competitive seller)?
Table:
Units of Labor TP MP Product Price TotalRevenue MRP VMP
4 15 $2 $30
5 27 12 2 54 24 24
6 36 9 2 72 18 18
7 42 6 2 84 12 12
8 45 3 2 90 6 6
9 46 1 2 92 2 2
B) Use the concepts of (i) substitutes in production versus pure complements in production and (ii) gross substitutes versus gross complements to assess the likely impact of the rapid decline in the price of computers and related office equipment on the labor demand for secretaries.
C) List the distinct characteristics of a perfectly competitive labor market and compare them to the characteristics of monopsony.