(Table: Cooking time) The table provides data on how long it takes Marla and Jason to cook lasagna or chicken curry.
Which statement explains who has a comparative advantage in cooking lasagna?

A)Marla because she has a lower opportunity cost than Jason.
B)Jason because he has a lower opportunity cost than Marla.
C)Marla because she can cook lasagna faster than Jason.
D)Jason because he can cook lasagna faster than Marla.

Question

(Table: Cooking time) The table provides data on how long it takes Marla and Jason to cook lasagna or chicken curry.
Which statement explains who has a comparative advantage in cooking lasagna?
 
A)Marla because she has a lower opportunity cost than Jason. 
B)Jason because he has a lower opportunity cost than Marla. 
C)Marla because she can cook lasagna faster than Jason. 
D)Jason because he can cook lasagna faster than Marla.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To determine who has a comparative advantage in cooking lasagna, we need to look at the opportunity cost of each person. Marla takes 90 minutes to cook lasagna and 120 minutes to cook chicken curry. Therefore, the opportunity cost of cooking lasagna for Marla is 120/90 = 1.33 (meaning she could have cooked 1.33 chicken curries in the time it takes her to cook one lasagna). Jason takes 120 minutes to cook lasagna and 90 minutes to cook chicken curry. Therefore, the opportunity cost of cooking lasagna for Jason is 90/120 = 0.75 (meaning he could have cooked 0.75 chicken curries in the time it takes him to cook one lasagna). Since Jason has a lower opportunity cost for cooking lasagna (0.75) than Marla (1.33), he has a comparative advantage in cooking lasagna.

(Table: Cooking Time) the Table Provides Data on How Long