ROBINSON CRUSOE ACTIVITY
Robinson Crusoe lives alone on an island.
He has some resources at his disposal:
 LAND: Some of the land is rocky and better suited for raising sheep. Other
parts of the land are better suited for growing wheat.
 SHEEP
 Up to 10 Hours a day of light for working
Robinson produces cloth (from his sheep) and he grows wheat to produce bread. If Robinson
uses all 10 of his work hours he has the following possibilities:
Possibility
A
B
C
D
E
F
Bread
(Loaves per month)
20
18
15
11
6
0
Cloth
(Yards per month)
0
1
2
3
4
5
A) Graphically depict Robinson’s production possibility frontier (PPF). Put bread on the
vertical axis and cloth on the horizontal axis.
B) Find one point on the graph that is unattainable given Robinson’s resources and
technology and label it X.
C) Find one point on the graph that is attainable given Robinson’s resources and
technology, but is inefficient in the sense that it does not fully utilize all resources.
Label this point Y.
D) Find one point on the graph that is attainable given Robinson’s resources and
technology, and is also efficient in the sense that it does fully utilize all resources.
Label this point Z.
Possibility
A
B
C
D
E
F
Bread
(Loaves per month)
20
18
15
11
6
0
Cloth
(Yards per month)
0
1
2
3
4
5
E) What is the opportunity cost of moving from the production of 0 to 1 yards of cloth?
______________
What is the opportunity cost of moving from the production of 1 to 2 yards of cloth?
______________
What is the opportunity cost of moving from the production of 2 to 3 yards of cloth?
______________
What is the opportunity cost of moving from the production of 3 to 4 yards of cloth?
______________
What is the opportunity cost of moving from the production of 4 to 5 yards of cloth?
______________
F) What is the opportunity cost of moving from production of 0 to 6 loaves of bread?
________________
Within the 0 to 6 range for bread production, what is the opportunity cost of
producing one loaf of bread?
(Assume constant opportunity costs of production within this range)
_______________
G) Would you say that the opportunity costs depicted in this PPF are constant or
increasing? Explain.