Question

Raphael's Performance Pizza is a small restaurant in Philadelphia that sells gluten-free pizzas. Raphael's very tiny kitchen has barely enough room for the three ovens in which his workers bake the pizzas. Raphael signed a lease obligating him to pay the rent for the three ovens for the next year. Because of this, and because Raphael's kitchen cannot fit more than three ovens, Raphael cannot change the number of ovens he uses in his production of pizzas in the short run.

However, Raphael's decision regarding how many workers to use can vary from week to week because his workers tend to be students. Each Monday, Raphael lets them know how many workers he needs for each day of the week. In the short run, these workers are____________ inputs, and the ovens are_____________ inputs.

Answer 1

However, Raphael's decision regarding how many workers to use can vary from week to week because his workers tend to be students. Each Monday, Raphael lets them know how many workers he needs for each day of the week. In the short run, these workers are variable inputs, and the ovens are fixed inputs.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the long run, all inputs are variable because eventually lease contracts expire, or they can move to new facilities. But on the short run, some inputs are fixed due to certain restraints. In this case, the restraints are the size of the kitchen and the lease contract for three ovens.

In the short run, the only input that Raphael can vary is the number of workers that he employs every week.