Technological progress leads to a. a decrease in employment if, and only if, the increase in output is larger than the increase in productivity. b. a decrease in employment if, and only if, the increase in output is smaller than the increase in productivity. c. an increase in unemployment if, and only if, the increase in output is larger than the increase in productivity. d. an increase in employment if, and only if, the increase in output is smaller than the increase in productivity. the "jobless recovery" after the us recession of 2001 can be explained by the a. decline in labor productivity during that period. b. lack of technological progress during that period. c. unusually high productivity growth during that period. d. unusually high growth in aggregate demand during that period.

In december of 2004, the company you own entered into a 20-year contract with a grain supplier for daily deliveries of grain to its hot dog bun manufacturing facility. the contract called for "10,000 pounds of grain" to be delivered to the facility at the price of $100,000 per day. until february 2017, the supplier provided processed grain which could easily be used in your manufacturing process. however, no longer wanting to absorb the cost of having the grain processed, the supplier began delivering whole grain. the supplier is arguing that the contract does not specify the type of grain that would be supplied and that it has not breached the contract. your company is arguing that the supplier has an onsite processing plant and processed grain was implicit to the terms of the contract. over the remaining term of the contract, reshipping and having the grain processed would cost your company approximately $10,000,000, opposed to a cost of around $1,000,000 to the supplier. after speaking with in-house counsel, it was estimated that litigation would cost the company several million dollars and last for years. weighing the costs of litigation, along with possible ambiguity in the contract, what are three options you could take to resolve the dispute? which would be the best option for your business and why?

Afirm’s production function is represented by q(m,r) = 4m 3/4r1/3, where q denotes output, m raw materials, and r robots. the firm is currently using 6 units of raw materials and 12 robots. according to the mrts, in order to maintain its output level the firm would need to give up 2 robots if it adds 9 units of raw materials. (a) true (b) false

Which of the following is a competitive benefit experienced by the first mover firm in an industry? a. the first mover will be able to achieve a less steep learning curve. b. the first mover will be able to reduce the switching costs. c. the first mover will not have to patent its products or technology. d. the first mover will be able to reduce costs through economies of scale.