John Amaker owns orange groves and hires pickers for a two-week period as shown in Table 7-3. In Table 7-3, the marginal physical product of the fifth picker is
A)4,700.
B)900.
C)800.
D)3,900.

Question

John Amaker owns orange groves and hires pickers for a two-week period as shown in Table 7-3.  In Table 7-3, the marginal physical product of the fifth picker is
A)4,700. 
B)900. 
C)800. 
D)3,900.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The marginal physical product (MPP) is the additional output obtained from adding one more unit of input (in this case, a picker). Looking at Table 7-3, we can see that the total output (in pounds of oranges) increases from 10,000 to 11,600 when the fifth picker is hired. Therefore, the MPP of the fifth picker is:

MPP = (Change in total output) / (Change in input)
MPP = (11,600 - 10,000) / (5 - 4)
MPP = 1,600 / 1
MPP = 800

Therefore, the best choice is C, and the MPP of the fifth picker is 800.

John Amaker Owns Orange Groves and Hires Pickers for a Two-Week