High School

If an increase in capital per worker leads to increased output per worker by decreasing amounts, what can be said about the per worker production function?

Answer :

An increase in capital per worker that leads to incrementally smaller increases in output per worker suggests a diminishing marginal product in the production function, exhibiting decreasing marginal returns to capital.

If an increase in capital per worker leads to increased output per worker by decreasing amounts, this indicates the presence of diminishing marginal product in the per worker production function. As more capital per worker is added, the additional output gained from each successive unit of capital becomes smaller. This phenomenon is rooted in the principle that while capital deepening (increasing capital per worker) initially boosts productivity, it tends to have a lesser impact as the quantity of capital reaches higher levels relative to the workforce.

Graphically, the production function would show a curve that gets flatter as the capital per worker increases. This reflects the decreasing marginal returns to capital, which is a common characteristic in economies that have substantial amounts of capital already invested.