Lillian Fok is president of Lakefront Manufacturing, a producer of bicycle tires. Fok makes 1,000 tires per day with the following resources: Labor: 400 hours per day @ $12.50 per hour Raw material: 20,000 pounds per day @ $1 per pound Energy: $5,000 per day Capital costs: $10,000 per day a) What is the labor productivity per labor-hour for these tires at Lakefront Manufacturing? b) What is the multifactor productivity for these tires at Lakefront Manufacturing? c) What is the percent change in multifactor productivity if Fok can reduce the energy bill by $1,000 per day without cutting production or changing any other inputs?

A) 2.5 bicycle tires per labor hour B) 0.025 dollars per bicycle tires C) It would mean an increase of 11.1% in the multifactor productivity.

Explanation: To calculate the productivity of labor per hour simply divide the total number of tires produced in 1 day with the total labor hour used (1000/400=2,5). To calculate the multifactor productivity, you have to sum the total cost of all resources labor, capital, raw material and energy, and divide the total output per the total cost of inputs (1000/40000=0.025). Finally, to calculate the impact of improvements in energy use, from 5,000$ per day to 1,000$, adjust the total cost of inputs by 4,000 (40,000-4,000=3,6000), divide production with the new cost (1,000/36,000=0.02777) and calculate the percentual change (0.0277-0.025/0.025=0.111)