Why is a production possibilities frontier typically drawn as a curve, rather than a straight line?

The Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF) is a graphical representation of the possible combinations of two goods or services that can be produced in an economy, given the available resources and technology.

Opportunity cost is the cost of choosing one alternative over the other. It represents the value of what is given up when a choice is made. In the context of PPF, opportunity cost is the cost of producing more of one good, measured in terms of the other good that must be sacrificed.

The law of increasing opportunity cost states that as more of one good is produced, the opportunity cost (in terms of the other good) increases. This is because resources are not equally suitable for producing all goods, and switching resources between the production of two different goods may result in a less efficient allocation, leading to higher opportunity costs.

A straight-line PPF would imply that the opportunity cost of producing more of one good is constant, regardless of the level of production. However, in reality, opportunity costs increase as more of one good is produced and resources are shifted away from the production of the other good. A curved PPF represents the increasing opportunity cost, as it shows that producing more of one good requires giving up increasingly larger amounts of the other good. The bowed-out shape of the curve is a result of the differences in the suitability of resources for producing the two goods. Therefore, a production possibilities frontier is typically drawn as a curve rather than a straight line to accurately illustrate the concept of opportunity cost and the law of increasing opportunity cost.