Apply the Expected Value Approach to Decision Making

question 23

Multiple Choice

Apply the expected value approach to decision making.
-A farm owner in upstate New York who grows summer vegetables (e.g. tomatoes)
Must decide whether to employ additional pickers this season. If he does, he could hire
Either migrant workers or local teenagers who need summer employment. The migrant
Workers are more experienced, faster, but more expensive. Although the teenagers will
Work for less, they lack experience and tend to damage plants and produce. His profits
Depend on the growing season as shown below. Suppose the farmer's almanac predicts
The probability of a good growing season this year to be .75. Based on the expected value
Approach, the farmer should

• A) hire migrant workers if the growing season is good.
• B) hire teenagers.
• C) do not do any extra hiring.
• D) hire migrant workers.
• E) do not do any extra hiring if the growing season is bad.

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Definitions:

Marginal Revenue Product

The additional revenue generated from employing one more unit of a factor of production, holding all other inputs constant.

Variable Input

An input in the production process that changes in quantity with the level of output, such as raw materials or labor hours.

Wage

The fixed regular payment, typically calculated on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis, made by an employer to an employee.

Marginal Product

The additional output that is produced by adding one more unit of a specific input, keeping all other inputs constant.