Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 2: Q 16 (page 46)

Based on the information in Problems 2-15, should you and your roommate specialize in a particular task? Why? And if so, who should specialize in which task? Show how much labor time you save if you choose to “trade” an appropriate task with your roommate as opposed to doing it yourself.

Short Answer

Expert verified

Yes, each should specialize in a particular task based on the comparative advantage.

I should specialize in laundry and the roommate should specialize in meal preparation.

I will complete the laundry in 4 hours and the roommate will complete meal preparation in 3 hours.

Step by step solution

01

Step 1. Given Information.

The information is:


LaundryMeal Preparation
Me2 hours1 hour
My roommate3 hours1 hour
02

Step 2. Specialization.

Yes, each should specialize in a particular task based on the comparative advantage.

I should specialize in the laundry because I have a comparative advantage in it and the roommate should specialize in meal preparation because he/she has a comparative advantage in it.

03

Step 3. Labor Time.

The time for laundry for me is 2 hours and the time for laundry for my roommate is 3 hours and each takes 1 hour for meal preparation.

The total time is 7 hours.

I will complete the laundry in 4 hours and the roommate will complete meal preparation in 3 hours based on the specializations.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Country A and country B produce the same consumption goods and capital goods and currently have identical production possibilities curves. They also have the same resources at present, and they have access to the same technology.

a. At present, does either country have a comparative advantage in producing capital goods? Consumption goods?

b. Currently, country A has chosen to produce more consumption goods, compared with country B. Other things being equal, which country will experience the larger outward shift of its PPC during the next year?

Discuss why obtaining increasing increments of any particular good typically entails giving up more and more units of other goods.

Suppose that in Fig 2-4, the nation currently has sufficient resources to produce combinations located along only the innermost production possibilities curve. In addition, suppose that the nation's residents have determined that smartphones function mainly as consumption goods while tablet devices function primarily as capital goods. If the nation produces no additional tablets this year, will the intermediate-shifted PPC resulting from minimal economic growth or the farthest shifted PPC caused by more significant economic growth be more likely to apply next year?

Construct a production possibilities curve for a nation facing increasing opportunity costs for producing food and video games. Show how the PPC

changes have given the following events.

(a) A new and better fertilizer is invented.

(b) Immigration occurs, and immigrants’ labor can be employed in both the agricultural sector and the video game sector.

(c) A new programming language is invented that is less costly to code and is more memory-efficient, enabling the use of smaller game cartridges.

(d) A heat wave and drought result in a 10 percent decrease in usable farmland.

How must the dollar values of the opportunity costs of time compare for a typical purchaser of a vehicle converted by Becker Automotive, Inc., versus commuters who do not purchase them? Explain briefly.
See all solutions

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free