What is Marginal Product?

We should also introduce a critical concept: marginal product. Marginal product is the additional output of one more worker. Mathematically, Marginal Product is the change in total product divided by the change in labor: MP = ΔTP / ΔL . In the table above, since 0 workers produce 0 trees, the marginal product of the first worker is four

trees per day, but the marginal product of the second worker is six trees per day. Why might that be the case? It’s because of the nature of the capital the workers are using. A two-person saw works much better with two persons than with one. Suppose we add a third lumberjack to the story. What will that person’s marginal product be? What will that person contribute to the team? Perhaps he or she can oil the saw’s teeth to keep it sawing smoothly or he or she could bring water to the two people sawing.