An owner of a small firm needs to hire some managers. Assume that each manager has time to do only one task. Task A is worth $100,000 to the owner, Task B is worth $75,000, and Task C is
worth $50,000. The owner hires only two managers, having one to do Tas A and the other Task
B. What is the opportunity cost of Task B?

Who is better at multi-tasking? in business, employees are often asked to perform a complex task when their atten-tion is divided (i.e., multi-tasking). human factors (may 2014) published a study designed to determine whether video game players are better than non–video game play-ers at multi-tasking. each in a sample of 60 college stu-dents was classified as a video game player or a non-player. participants entered a street crossing simulator and were asked to cross a busy street at an unsigned intersec-tion. the simulator was designed to have cars traveling at various high rates of speed in both directions. during the crossing, the students also performed a memory task as a distraction. two variables were measured for each student: (1) a street crossing performance score (measured out of 100 points) and (2) a memory task score (measured out of 20 points). the researchers found no differences in either the street crossing performance or memory task score of video game players and non-gamers. “these results,” say the researchers, “suggest that action video game players [and non-gamers] are equally susceptible to the costs of dividing attention in a complex task”

You are an employee of an u.s. firm that produces personal computers in thailand and then exports them to the united states and other countries for sale. the personal computers were originally produced in thailand to take advantage of relatively low labor costs and a skilled workforce. other possible locations considered at that time were malaysia and hong kong. the u.s. government decides to impose punitive 100% ad valorem tariffs on imports of computers from thailand to punish the country for administrative trade barriers that restrict u.s. exports to thailand. how do you think your firm should respond? what does this tell you about the use of targeted trade barriers?

The total value of your portfolio is $10,000: $3,000 of it is invested in stock a and the remainder invested in stock b. stock a has a beta of 0.8; stock b has a beta of 1.2. the risk premium on the market portfolio is 8%; the risk-free rate is 2%. additional information on stocks a and b is provided below. return in each state state probability of state stock a stock b excellent 15% 15% 5% normal 50% 9% 7% poor 35% -15% 10% what are each stock’s expected return and the standard deviation? what are the expected return and the standard deviation of your portfolio? what is the beta of your portfolio? using capm, what is the expected return on the portfolio? given your answer above, would you buy, sell, or hold the portfolio?