Dr. Colgate is a dentist who employs an assistant, Ms. Crest. If Dr. Colgate wor

Question

Dr. Colgate is a dentist who employs an assistant, Ms. Crest. If Dr. Colgate worked all day at the front desk, she could answer 40 phone calls. If she worked all day with patients, she could clean the teeth of 40 patients. If Ms. Crest worked all day at the front desk, she could answer 60 phone calls. If she worked all day with patients, she could clean the teeth of 20 patients. Which of the following is true?
Choose one answer.
a. Dr. Colgate has an absolute advantage in answering phones.
b. Ms. Crest has a comparative advantage in answering phones.
c. Ms. Crest has an absolute advantage in cleaning patients' teeth.
d. Dr. Colgate has a comparative advantage in answering phones.

Explanation / Answer

From the information given, we can tell that Colgate has an absolute advantage in teeth and Crest has an absolute advantage in phones. So, we can immediately eliminate A and C as potential answer choices. To find the comparative advantage, divide the production possibilities for each agent. For Colgate, 1 phone costs her 1 teeth. For Crest, 1 phone call costs her .33 teeth. So, Crest has a comparative advantage in phones and Colgate has a comparative advantage in teeth. So, B is the correct answer.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse D
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.