A study describes operating costs for comparable manufacturing plants operating in 15 different U.S. metropolitan areas. From the costs obtained in the study, the following multiple regression equation was developed:

yˆ 5 1.0 1 1.1x1 1 2.8x2, with yˆ 5 total operating cost, x1 5 labor cost, and x2 5 electric power cost.

All costs are in millions of dollars and on an annual basis.

a. Interpret the y-intercept and the partial regression coefficients.

b. If labor costs $6 million and electric power costs

$0.3 million, what is the estimated annual cost to operate the plant?

( DATA SET ) Note: Exercises 16.11–16.14 require a computer and statistical software.