Table 14-5The following table shows the production and costs for the Wooden Chair Factory.[table]
Labor(Number of workers) | Capital(Number of machines) | Output(Chairs produced per hour) | Marginal Product of Labor(Chairs produced per hour) | Cost of Workers(Dollars) | Cost of Machines(Dollars | Total Cost(Dollars) 1 | 2 | 5 | | | | 2 | 2 | 10 | | | | 3 | 2 | 20 | | | | 4 | 2 | 35 | | | | 5 | 2 | 55 | | | | 6 | 2 | 70 | | | | 7 | 2 | 80 | | | |
[/table]Refer to Table 14-5.Assume the Wooden Chair Factory currently employs 5 workers. What is the marginal product of labor when the factory adds a 6th worker?

Question

Table 14-5The following table shows the production and costs for the Wooden Chair Factory.[table]
Labor(Number of workers) | Capital(Number of machines) | Output(Chairs produced per hour) | Marginal Product of Labor(Chairs produced per hour) | Cost of Workers(Dollars) | Cost of Machines(Dollars | Total Cost(Dollars) 1 | 2 | 5 | |  |  |  2 | 2 | 10 |  |  |  |  3 | 2 | 20 |  |  |  |  4 | 2 | 35 |  |  |  |  5 | 2 | 55 |  |  |  |  6 | 2 | 70 |  |  |  |  7 | 2 | 80 |  |  |  | 
[/table]​Refer to Table 14-5.Assume the Wooden Chair Factory currently employs 5 workers. What is the marginal product of labor when the factory adds a 6th worker?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Let's unpack the data in Table 14-5 to determine the marginal product of labor when moving from 5 workers to 6 workers.

From the table, the production levels (Output in chairs per hour) are:
- 5 workers: 55 chairs per hour
- 6 workers: 70 chairs per hour
These values show the total output increases as more workers are added.

The marginal product of labor (MPL) for the 6th worker is the additional output produced by that extra worker, holding other inputs constant. It is calculated as: MPL = Output with 6 workers − Output with 5 workers = 70 − 55 = 15 chairs per hour.

Now, evaluating the given answer choice:
- If option b states '15 chairs per hour', this matches the calculated MPL of 15, so it is correct.

Regarding the absence of the other answer options in the provided data, it is not possible to evaluate why they might be incorrect. Typically, other choices might propose values such as 5, 15, 25, or 35 based on misreading the table, miscalculating the difference in successive outputs, or misinterpreting marginal product as average product. For example:
- A value like 5 would correspond to the incremental increase from 5 to 6 workers if the outputs were 60 at 6 workers, which is not the case here since the actual 6-worker output is 70.
- A value like 25 would imply an increase from 55 to 80, which would correspond to moving from 5 to 7 workers rather than from 5 to 6.
- A value like 35 would be inconsistent with the recorded consecutive outputs (70 − 35 would imply much larger jumps and would not align with the provided sequence).

In summary, based on the table data, the marginal product of labor when adding the 6th worker is 15 chairs per hour, which aligns with option stating '15 chairs per hour'.

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