Which term is the ratio of output produced per unit of input?

• A. Publicity
• B. Public Goods
• C. Public Relations
• D. Productivity

Answer: (D)

Productivity measures how efficiently resources are turned into goods or services. It is the ratio of output produced per unit of input. Put simply, more output with the same input means higher productivity; more input for the same output means lower productivity. For example, producing 200 widgets with 100 hours of labor gives 2 widgets per hour. The other terms refer to different ideas: publicity is attention from media or the public, public goods are items that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous, and public relations is about managing a company’s image and communications. None of those describe output per input, which is what productivity captures.