Final answer:
The statement is false; while labor specialization can increase worker productivity, this does not lead the marginal-cost curve to be negatively sloped. The marginal-cost curve typically slopes upwards due to diminishing marginal productivity as more labor is employed beyond a certain point.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the benefit of labor specialization and rising worker productivity is increasing marginal productivity, which causes the marginal-cost curve to be negatively sloped, is false. The concept in question pertains to labor and production within the field of economics, which are critical in understanding business operations. Labor specialization can indeed lead to increased worker productivity as individuals become more efficient at performing specific tasks. However, this is not what causes the marginal-cost curve to slope downwards.
Diminishing marginal productivity is a general rule that as a firm employs more labor, eventually the amount of additional output produced declines. This happens because, with more workers, the fixed capital becomes a limiting factor, and workers have less capital to work with on average. Therefore, each additional worker adds less to output than the previous one, once a certain point is reached.
Based on this principle, as the output per additional unit of labor (marginal product) starts to decline, the cost to produce each additional unit (marginal cost) begins to rise. Hence, the marginal-cost curve typically slopes upwards as more labor is added. The idea that specialization leads to a negatively sloped marginal-cost curve misunderstands the relationship between marginal product and marginal cost. Hence, while economies of scale and specialization might reduce average costs up to a point, they don't inherently make the marginal-cost curve negatively sloped.
Illustrative examples that show the adaptation of firms in different wage environments, such as how multinational companies like Coca-Cola or McDonald's scale their labor and machinery, reflect economies of scale and the impact on production choices. Nevertheless, these strategies also have to deal with the marginal cost of labor, which is the additional cost of hiring one more worker. These are calculated considering the change in wages against the change in workforce, and typically, they increase after a certain point of hiring due to the above-explained diminishing marginal productivity.