What is an Isoquant - Economics Video Lecture | SSC CGL Tier 2 - Study Material, Online Tests, Previous Year

an isoquant shows the different
combinations of inputs needed to produce
a certain amount of a good or service
for simplicity sake will analyze
isoquants using only two inputs capital
own labor the x-axis or horizontal axis
shows the amount of capital needed for
production while the y-axis or vertical
axis shows the amount of labor needed
graphically the shape of an isoquant
will depend on the type of good or
service we are looking at in this case
the curve is the typical representation
for a common isoquant line all points
along the curve give the same level of
output what changes is the combination
of the production factors the shape of
the curve shows what amount of capital
the producer can stop applying when
increasing the amount of labour while
maintaining the quantity of output
produced constant for example at this
specific point we need 10 units of
capital and 2 units of labour in order
to produce a given amount of output
however if we move along the curve we
get different input combinations but
always the same amount of produced
output this relation gives us the
marginal rate of technical substitution
between these inputs which is the slope
of the curve in each of its points an
increase in production will only come
when we displace the isoquant curves
outwards the shape the isoquant curves
does not limit to the single example
there are an infinite number of
possibilities
let's review two particular shapes our
second example is an isoquant map with
three parallel lines this is the case
for inputs which are perfect substitutes
since the lines are parallel and their
marginal rate of technical substitution
is equal to one and it is why the slope
has an angle of 45 degrees with each
axis our third example shows an isoquant
map with three ISO points that represent
perfect complementary inputs
this means there will not be an increase
on the amount produced unless both
inputs increase in the required
proportion the best example of
complementary inputs are shovels and
diggers since the amount of hold will
not increase when there are extra
shovels without diggers notice that the
elbows are collinear and the line
crossing them defines the proportion in
which each input needs to increase in
order to have an increase in the
production in this case the horizontal
fragment of each isoquant has a marginal
rate of technical substitution equal to
zero and the vertical fractions a
marginal rate of technical substitution
equal to infinite having defined and
decided the optimal levels of capital
and labor we need to produce the
different quantities the line that
passes through these optimal levels is
an isocline in other words it is the
line that joins points where the
marginal rate of technical substitution
of each isoquant is constant in the real
world the production functions do not
usually follow symmetrical paths and as
a result there isoquants curve might
look more similar to these as we can see
the isocline line path will be altered
to sum up the analysis of isoquants is
very important when analyzing production
we should also keep in mind the relation
between isoquants and the marginal rate
of technical substitution and isoclines
you