Assertion: Marginal Product of an input can be positive, zero and negative.

Reasoning: Average Product of an input can be positive or zero but can never be negative.

Assertion (A) is true but Reasoning (R) is not correct.

The correct answer is Option 3: Assertion (A) is true but Reasoning (R) is not correct.

Corrected Explanation

1. Assertion (A): Marginal Product (MP) of an input can be positive, zero, and negative. (Correct)

   • MP is positive when an additional unit of input increases total output.
   • MP is zero when total product is at its maximum.
   • MP is negative when adding more input decreases total output.

2. Reasoning (R): Average Product (AP) of an input can be positive or zero but can never be negative. (Incorrect)

   • AP is always positive because it is calculated as AP = TP / Input.
   • AP can never be zero unless TP = 0, which would mean no production is happening at all.
   • Since firms do not operate at zero output levels, AP is always positive as long as production occurs.
   • AP can never be negative because TP (total output) is never negative.