Английский язык для экономистов

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Unit 2

PRODUCTION AND COSTS

A. Preliminary discussion

How can you define production?
What is the ultimate aim of production?
What is a factor of production? Can you name some of them?

B. Pre-reading exercises

B.1 Skim the text and give its key idea.

B.2 Scan the text for the following information.

What difficult task does any producer face?
How many stages of production are mentioned in the text?
What is the key concept of Diminishing Returns?

C. Reading

C.1 Read the text and answer the questions.

How can you formulate the Law of Variable Proportions?
In what way is the output of final product affected by adding more units of production?
How does total cost of production differ from marginal cost?
Where is marginal analysis used?

PRODUCTION AND COSTS

Garry Clayton

Whether they are film producers of multimillion-dollar epics or small firms that market a single product, suppliers face a difficult task. Producing an economic good or service requires a combination of land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurs. The theory of production deals with the relationship between the factors of production and the output of goods and services.

The theory of production is generally based on the short run, a period of production that allows producers to change only the amount of the variable input called labour. This contrasts with the long run, a period of production long enough for producers to adjust the quantities of all their resources, including capital.

The Law of Variable Proportions state that, in the short run, output will change as one input is varied while the others are held constant.

The Law of Variable Proportions deals with the relationship between the input of productive resources and the output of productive resources and the output of final products. The law helps answer the question: How is the output of the final product affected as more units of one variable input or resource are added to fixed amount of other resources? Of course, it is possible to vary all the inputs at the same time. Economists do not like to do this, however, because when more than one factor of production is varied, it becomes harder to gauge the impact of a single variable on total output.

When it comes to determining the optimal number of variable units to be used in production, changes in marginal product are special interest. There are three stages of production – increasing returns, diminishing returns, and negative returns – that are based on the way marginal product changes as the variable input of labour is changed.

In stage one, the first workers hired cannot work efficiently because there are too many resources per worker. As the number of workers increases, they make better use of their machinery and resources. This results in increasing returns (or increasing marginal products) for the first five workers hired.

As long as each new worker hired contributes more to total output than the worker before, total output rises at an increasingly faster rate. This stage is known as the stage of increasing returns.

In stage II, the total production keeps growing, by smaller and smaller amount. This stage illustrates the principle of diminishing returns, the stage where output increases at a diminishing rate as more units of variable input are added.

The third stage of production begins when the eleventh worker is added. By this time, the firm has hired too many workers, and they are starting to get in each other’s way. Marginal product becomes negative and total plant output decreases.

Measures of Costs

Because the cost of inputs influences efficient production decision, a business must analyze costs before making its decision. To simplify decision making, cost is divided into several different categories.

The first category is fixed cost – the cost that a business incurs even if the plant is idle and output is zero. Total fixed cost, or overhead, remains the same whether a business produces nothing, very little, or a large amount. Fixed costs include salaries paid to executives, interest charges on bonds, rent payments on leased properties, and local and state property taxes. Fixed costs also include deprecation, the gradual wear and tear on capital goods over time and through use.

Another kind of cost is variable cost, a cost that changes when the business rate of operation or output changes. Variable costs generally are associated with labour and raw materials.

The total cost of production is the sum of the fixed and variable costs.

Another category of cost is marginal cost – the extra cost incurred when a business produces one additional unit of a product. Because fixed costs do not change from one level of production to another, marginal cost is the per-unit increase in variable costs that stems from using additional factors of production.

The cost and combination, or mix, of inputs affects the way businesses produce. The following examples illustrate the importance of costs to business firms.

Consider the case of a self-serve gas station with many pumps and a single attendant who works in an enclosed booth. This operation is likely to have large fixed costs, such as the cost of the lot, the pumps and tanks, and the taxes and licensing fees paid to state and local governments.

The variable costs, on the other hand, are relatively small.

As a result, the owner may operate the station 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a relatively low cost. As a result, the extra wages, the electricity, and other costs are minor and may be covered by the profits of the extra sales.

Measures of Revenue

Businesses use two key measures of revenue to find the amount of output that will produce the greatest profits. The first is total revenue, and the second is marginal revenue.

The total revenue is the number of units sold multiplied by the average price per unit.

The marginal revenues are determined by dividing the change in total revenue by the marginal product.

Keep in mind that whenever an additional worker is added, the marginal revenue computation remains the same. If a business employs, for example, five workers, it produces 90 units of output and generates $1,350 of total revenue. If a sixth worker is added, output increases by 20 units, and total revenues increase to $1,600. To have increased total revenue by $300, each of the 20 additional units of output must have added $15.

If each unit of output sells for $15, the marginal or extra revenue earned by the sale of one more unit is $15 for every level of output.

Marginal revenue can remain constant but businesses often find that marginal revenues start high and then decrease as more units are produced and sold.

Marginal Analysis

Economists use marginal analysis, a type of cost-benefit decision making that compares the extra benefits to the extra costs of an action. Marginal analysis is helpful in a number of situations, including break-even analysis and profit maximization. In each case the costs and benefits of decisions that are made in small, incremental steps.

The break-even point is the total output or total product the business needs to sell in order to cover its total costs. A business wants to do more than break even, however. It wants to make as much profits as it can. But, how many workers and what level of output are needed to generate the maximum profits?

The owner of the business can decide by comparing marginal costs and marginal revenues. In general, as long as the marginal cost is less than the marginal revenue, the business will keep hiring workers.

When marginal cost is less than marginal revenue, more variable inputs should be hired to expand output. The profit-maximizing quantity of output is reached when marginal cost and marginal revenue are equal.

C.2 Decide whether these statements are True (T) or False (F).

The theory of production deals with a period of production that allows producers to change the amount of labour used.
The law helps answer the question: How is the output of the final product affected as more units of one variable input or resource are added to fixed amount of other resources?
In stage 1 of production the more workers are hired the less are the returns.
When an additional worker is added, the marginal revenue computation changes according to the stage of production.
When marginal cost is less than marginal revenue, more variable inputs should be hired to expand output.

D. Vocabulary

D.1 Read and learn new words.

output (n) – the amount of goods or services produced by a person, machine, factory, company etc

input (n) – ideas, advice, effort, or money that you put into something to help it succeed

factor of production – something that is needed to produce a particular product

diminishing return – the idea that a point can be reached where the advantage or profit you are getting stops increasing in relation to the effort you are making

marginal (adj) – relating to a change in a cost, value etc when one more thing is produced, one more dollar is earned etc

costs (n) – money that a business or an individual must regularly spend

fixed costs – costs to a business that do not change when the amount of goods or services produced or not

incur (v) – if you incur a cost, a debt, or a fine, you do something that means that you lose money or have to pay money

overhead costs – costs not directly related to a particular product or service, but related to general costs for buildings, equipment etc

interest (n) – an amount paid by a borrower to a lender, for example to a bank by someone borrowing money for a loan or by a bank to depositor

charges (n) – an amount of money paid for services or goods

rent payment – money paid for the use of a house, office etc

lease (v) – to give somebody the right to use something for a particular period of time in return for payment

depreciation (n) – decreasing in value over a period of time

variable costs –costs that change when the amount of something produced changes

rate of operation – capacity of work done by a company or machine

marginal cost – the extra cost of producing one more of something

self-service (n) – a self-service shop, restaurant etc is one in which customers get the goods themselves and then go and pay for them

lot (n)– an area of land on which nothing has been built and which may be available to rent, or build on

revenue (n) – money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services

break-even (adj) – when a company is neither making a profit or a loss

D.2 Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions.

фиксированные затраты
самообслуживание
безубыточный
норма загрузки производственных мощностей
доход, выручка
переменные издержки
накладные расходы
износ
сокращающийся доход
фактор производства

D.3 Choose an appropriate word or expression from the box to complete the following sentences.

returns costs fixed cost incurred

interest rents leased depreciation

Commercial … have decreased significantly since their peak in 1997.
The East Moline foundry has been operating at less than 50% capacity and has … significant operating losses.
The … is the added output resulting from employing one more worker.
Their retail branches are a … , so the more business they put through them the better.
Delay in construction could increase … significantly.
Chrysler might run out of money to pay … on its bonds.
The proposed site of the factory may lead to… of property value in the immediate vicinity.
The local authority … him the property.

E. Make a summary of the text.

F. Grammar notes

‘One’ and ‘it’

§ 1 ‘It’ as an ‘empty subject’

We often use it in sentences referring to time, the weather, temperature or distance. When used in this way, it is sometimes called an empty subject because it carries no real information. It is present because every English sentence has to contain a subject and a verb. It is used in sentences with:

Time: It’s 8 o’clock. It’s Tuesday. It’s May 25th.

Weather: It’s hot. It’s raining. It rains a lot here.

Temperature: It’s 37° centigrade/Celsius.

Distance: It’s 20 miles to/from London.

The tides: It’s high tide at 11.44.

Environment: It’s noisy/smoky in here.

Present situation: Isn’t it awful! Isn't it a shame!

It’s time … It’s time (for us) to leave.

With since: It’s three years since we last met.

With says: It says here there was a big fire in Hove.

With take: It takes (us) half an hour to get to work.

And note many expressions with it, e.g. it doesn’t matter; it’s no use, (‘it’ as a subject); I’ve had it; That does it! (‘it’ as an object).

§ 2 ‘It’ as a ‘preparatory subject’

Sometimes sentences beginning with it continue with an infinitive, a gerund or a noun clause. It is possible to begin such sentences with an infinitive or gerund, but we generally prefer it:

It’s pleasant to lie in the sun. (To lie in the sun is pleasant).

It’s pleasant lying in the sun. (Lying in the sun is pleasant).

It’s a shame that he isn’t here. (That he isn’t here is a shame).

It doesn’t matter when we arrive. (When we arrive doesn’t matter).

§ 3 General statements with ‘one’ and ‘you’

‘One’ used as an indefinite pronoun meaning ‘everyone/anyone’ is sometimes applied (formally) in general statements:

World trade is improving, but one cannot expect miracles.

In everyday speech, the informal ‘you’ is preferred:

Can you buy refrigerators in Lapland? (= Can anyone ...?)

‘One’ may be used to replace I, but this tends to sound pompous:

One likes to have one’s breakfast in bed now and again.

‘One’ can be linked with one’s, just as you can be linked with your. However, constructions with one, one’s and oneself are often awkward because of the repetition of one:

One should do one’s best at all times. (For: You should do your best at all times.)

One shouldn’t be too hard on oneself. (For: You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself.)

In AmE one’s/oneself can be replaced by his/her, himself/herself:

One should give himself/herself a holiday from time to time. (For the use of the passive in place of one.)

F.1 Identify all dumpy ‘it’ or ‘one’ in the text “Cost and Production” and translate the sentences into Russian.

F.2 Rewrite these sentences beginning It … if it is appropriate in written English. The first has been done for you.

To drive a car without a licence is illegal. E.g. It is illegal to drive a car without a licence.
That she wasn’t hurt in the fall was a miracle.
Their decision was a serious setback.
The announcement is to be made this evening.
Where the light was coming from was far from clear.
That you already know my secret is obvious.
If the two countries don’t reach an agreement soon will be surprising.
The parcel I was expecting has arrived.

F.3 Match up the sentences and write ones beginning with It … that …, as in the example: It appears likely that the President will be re-elected.

1. A number of alternative answers are possible.

The President will be re-elected.	This transpired during the trial.
Beckman had a wrist injury for most of the match.	This follows the results of the survey.
This was to be the band’s last world tour.	This appears likely.
Jacobs possessed three handguns.	This seemed to be the case.
People are happy with the quality of supermarket food.	This emerged after the concert.

G. Speak up

G.1 Answer the following questions.

How can overhead costs change the way people do business?
How does costs affect total revenue?

G.2 Discussion topics

Comment on the statement: Profit is maximized when the marginal costs of production equal the marginal revenue from sales.
Explain the use of marginal analysis for break-even and profit-maximizing decisions.
Many oil-processing plants shift workers to maintain operations. How do you think a plant’s fixed and variable costs affect its decision to operate around the clock?

H. Reading the English newspaper

H.1 Read the article and do the exercises.

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