Question

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

Answer 1

The question is incomplete, but I guess its about variable and fixed inputs. In this case, Van's workers are considered the variable input since Van can hire or fire workers in the short run. While the ovens are fixed inputs, since Van cannot change the number of ovens due to space and legal limitations (lease contract).

The short run or the long run are not specific time frames, it is not like current or non-current assets or liabilities. The short run refers to a time period where a business can only change certain inputs, e.g. labor or hours worked. While the long run refers to a time period where a business can change all of its inputs. I.e. in the long run, all costs are variable.

E.g. If Van's lease contracts (restaurant and ovens) expired in 6 months, and he was then able to get a new place and enter new contracts, then the long run would be in 6 months. But under the current conditions, the long run is 4 years since that is when the lease contracts expire.