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Scarcity, Choice and the Economic Problem

Movements along and shifts in the frontier

  • 3 things to know
  • All three components

Overview

How net investment shifts the frontier outwards, skewed shift of the production possibility frontier and skewed outward shift of a frontier.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Distinguish between a movement along a production possibility frontier and a shift of the frontier.

Key term

Give four factors that shift a production possibility frontier outwards.

Key term

Give three factors that shift a production possibility frontier inwards.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Distinguish between a movement along a production possibility frontier and a shift of the frontier.

    Model answer

    A movement along the frontier reallocates existing resources between the two goods. A shift of the frontier changes the total output the economy is capable of producing.

  2. 2

    Give four factors that shift a production possibility frontier outwards.

    Model answer

    Net investment in capital and technological advance both shift the frontier outwards. A larger or better trained workforce and new natural resource discoveries do the same.

  3. 3

    Give three factors that shift a production possibility frontier inwards.

    Model answer

    War or a natural disaster that destroys capital shifts the frontier inwards. Net emigration of workers and the depletion of non-renewable resources also move it inwards.

  4. 4

    Explain how net investment shifts the frontier outwards.

    Model answer

    Net investment adds to the capital stock once depreciation has been replaced. A larger capital stock raises the maximum output the economy can produce.

  5. 5

    What is a skewed shift of the production possibility frontier?

    Model answer

    A skewed shift moves the frontier out along one axis by more than the other. Technological progress confined to one industry produces exactly that pattern.

  6. 6

    Give an example of a skewed outward shift of a frontier.

    Model answer

    A breakthrough in farm machinery raises potential food output far more than potential manufacturing output. The frontier then swings out along the food axis while barely moving on the other.

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