1. Consider the following information for a certain table manufacturer in the short run (with its existing plant and equipment): Units of Labor: N 3 4 5 6 7 8 Number of Tables: 10 18 24 28 30 28 25 a. Find and plot the marginal and average product of labor (MPL and APL) for this production function. b. Does this production function exhibit diminishing marginal returns to labor? Explain. c. Briefly explain in terms of production theory what might cause the marginal product of labor to become negative (as observed for the 7th and 8th units of labor). d. You were hired as a consultant by the firm's CEO, who is concerned about the low productivity of his workers relative to other table manufacturers in the industry - despite being happy and motivated. Can you suggest the CEO a way (or two) to increase labor productivity? 2. Suppose you operate a copying service that has two copy machines. After some experience, you find that hiring additional workers increases your copying capacity by 500 sheets per worker each day, up to the eighth worker. But, after you have eight workers on staff, hiring additional workers produces no additional pages copied. a. Graph the APL and the MPL. [Hint: what would the MPL of the ninth worker be? What would the APL be if nine workers were hired?] b. Briefly explain what might cause the MPL to behave in this way. c. Can you find the MRTS for the copying service? If so, what is it? If not, why not