Table 7-1
Rob Crusoe and Bill Friday spent their week-long vacation on a desert island where they had to find and prepare their own food.Rob and Bill spent one day each fishing and picking berries.The table lists the pounds of output Rob and Bill produced.
-Refer to Table 7-1.Use the table above to select the statement that accurately interprets the data in the table.
A)Bill has a greater opportunity cost than Rob for picking berries.
B)Bill's opportunity cost for catching fish is less than Rob's.
C)Rob has a greater opportunity cost than Bill for picking berries.
D)Bill's opportunity cost for picking berries and catching fish are both greater than Rob's.

Question

Table 7-1
  Rob Crusoe and Bill Friday spent their week-long vacation on a desert island where they had to find and prepare their own food.Rob and Bill spent one day each fishing and picking berries.The table lists the pounds of output Rob and Bill produced.
-Refer to Table 7-1.Use the table above to select the statement that accurately interprets the data in the table.
A)Bill has a greater opportunity cost than Rob for picking berries. 
B)Bill's opportunity cost for catching fish is less than Rob's. 
C)Rob has a greater opportunity cost than Bill for picking berries. 
D)Bill's opportunity cost for picking berries and catching fish are both greater than Rob's.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone in a decision. To determine opportunity cost, we need to compare the outputs of the two tasks for each person. Rob caught 6 pounds of fish and picked 4 pounds of berries, while Bill caught 4 pounds of fish and picked 5 pounds of berries. For Rob, the opportunity cost of picking berries is the 6 pounds of fish he could have caught instead (since he can only do one task per day). For Bill, the opportunity cost of picking berries is the 4 pounds of fish he could have caught instead. Thus, Rob has a greater opportunity cost for picking berries (6 pounds of fish foregone) than Bill (4 pounds of fish foregone). Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

Table 7-1 Rob Crusoe and Bill Friday Spent Their Week-Long