Description
This video explains what the learning curve is. We start by learning how to build a learning curve, and then we compare two companies competing with the same learning curve.
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The learning curve (not to be confused with experience curve) is a graphical representation of the phenomenon explained by Theodore P. Wright in his “Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes”, 1936. It refers to the effect that learning had on labour productivity in the aircraft industry, which translates into a relation between the cumulative number of units produced (X) and the average time (or labour cost) per unit (Y), which resulted in a convex downward slope.
There is a simple rationalisation behind all this: the more units produced by a given worker, the less time this same worker will need to produce the following units, because he will learn how to do it faster and better. Therefore, when a firm has higher cumulative volume of production, its time (or labour cost) per unit will be lower.
Some important implications arise from this curve. If the time (or labour cost) per unit decreases as the cumulative output increases, this will mean that firms that have been producing more and for a longer period, will have lower average time per unit and thus dominate the market.
Learn more by reading the dictionary entry.
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