Cost Shift

   A decrease in the price of a variable input, or an increase in the productivity of a variable input will lead to a decrease in Variable Cost, causing all three curves to shift out and to the right.

   A more productive input is a cheaper input. If labor becomes more productive but the wage rate remains the same, more is being produced for each dollar paid in wages. This is identical to a decrease in the price of a variable input. All three curves must shift because all three contain variable cost components.

Copyright © 1995-2004 OnLineTexts.com, Inc. - All Rights Reserved