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Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity: What It Is and How It Works

ꦜ What Isꦫ the Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity?

The law of diminishing marginal productivity is an economic principle usually considered by managers in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:productivity management. Generally, it states that increasing an input in a production process, fo♍r example labor hours, will result in marginally smaller increases in output after the initial increase and may level off or even decrease after a specific point. 

Key Takeaways

  • Diminishing marginal productivity typically occurs when advantageous changes are made to input variables affecting total productivity.
  • The law of diminishing marginal productivity states that when an advantage is gained in a factor of production, the productivity gained from each subsequent unit produced will only increase marginally from one unit to the next.
  • Production managers consider the law of diminishing marginal productivity when improving variable inputs for increased production and profitability.

Undꦓerstanding the Law of Diminishing Marginal Productivity

The law of diminishing marginal productivity involves marginal increases in production resulting from an increase of an input employed. It can also be known as the law of diminishing returns. In general, it aligns with most economic theories using 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:marginal analysis such as the diminishing rate of satisfaction or utility obtained from additional units of consumption of a p�♓�articular commodity.

The law of diminishing marginal productivity suggests that managers find a marginally diminishing rate of production per unit of an input employe🍌d in the production process if all other things remain the same. When mathematically graphed this shows total production increasing at a decreasing rate as increasing units of an input are added to the production process.

Different than some other economic laws, the law of diminishing marginal productivity involves marginal product calculations that can usually be relatively easy to quantify. Companies may choose to alter various inputs in the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:factors of production for various reasons, many of which are focused on costs. In some✱ situations, it may be more cost-efficient to alter the inputs of one variable while keeping others constant. However, in practice, all changes to input variables require close analysis. The law of diminishing marginal productivity says that these changes to inputs will have a marginally positive effect on outputs. Thus, each additional unit produced will report a marginally smaller production return than the unit before it as production goes on.

Fast Fact

The law of diminishing marginal productivity is also kn𝕴own as the law of dimin❀ishing marginal returns.

Marginal productivity or marginal product refers to the extra output, return, or profit yielded per unit by advantages from production inputs. Inputs can include things like labor and raw materials. The law of diminishing marginal returns states that when an advantage is gained in a factor of production, the marginal productivity will typically diminish as production increases. This means that the cost advantage usually diminishes for each additional unit of output produced.

When reviewing production to cost inputs, these calc💝ulations are important for businesses to consider.

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Examples

In its most simplified form, diminishing marginal productivity is typ⛦ically identified when a single input variable presents a decrease in input cost. A decrease in the labor costs involved with manufacturing a car, for example, would lead to marginal improvements in profitability per car. However, the law of diminishing marginal productivity suggests that for every unit of production, managers will experience a diminishing productivity improvement. This usually translates to a diminishing level of profitability per car.

Diminishing marginal productivity can also involve a༒ benefit threshold being exceeded. For example, consider a farmer using fertilizer as an input in the process for growing corn. Each unit of added fertilizer will only increase production return marginally up to a threshold. At the threshold level, the added fertilizer does not improve production and may harm production.

In another scen🦂ario consider a business with a high level of customer traffic during certain hours. The business could inc🍌rease the number of workers available to help customers but at a certain threshold, the addition of workers will not improve total sales and can even cause a decrease in sales.

Considerations for Economies of Scale

Economies of scale can be studied in conjunction with the law of diminishing marginal productivity. Economies of scale show that a company can usually increase their profit p𝄹er unit of production when they produce goods in mass quantities. Mass production involves several important factors of production like labor, electricity, equipment usage, and more. When these factors are adjusted, economies of scale still allow a company to produce goods at a lower relative per unit cost. However, adjusting production inputs advantageously will usually result in diminishing marginal productivity because each advantageous adjustment can only offer so much of a benefit. Economic theory suggests that the benefit obtained is not constant per additional units produced but rather diminishes.

Diminishing marginal productivity can also be associated with 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:diseconomies of scale. Diminishing marginal productivity can potentially lead to a loss of p🍃rofit after breaching a threshold. If diseconomies of scale oc▨cur, companies don’t see a cost improvement per unit at all with production increases. Instead, there is no return gained for units produced and losses can mount as more units are produced.

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  1. University of Minnesota. "."

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