# Lumberjacks 1

2

3

4

5

# Trees (TP)

4 10 12 13 13

MP

4

6

2

1

0

TABLE 7.2 Short Run Production

Function for Trees
164 7 • Production, Costs, and Industry Structure

Note that we have introduced some new language. We also call Output (Q) Total Product (TP), which means the

amount of output produced with a given amount of labor and a fixed amount of capital. In this example, one

lumberjack using a two-person saw can cut down four trees in an hour. Two lumberjacks using a two-person

saw can cut down ten trees in an hour.

We should also introduce a critical concept: marginal product. Marginal product is the additional output of

one more worker. Mathematically, Marginal Product is the change in total product divided by the change in

labor:

. In the table above, since 0 workers produce 0 trees, the marginal product of the first

worker is four trees per day, but the marginal product of the second worker is six trees per day. Why might that
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