Exam 16: Asymmetric Information

Suppose there are two types of fruit pickers. Fast pickers bring in more than 10 units of fruit per day, while the slow pickers bring in fewer than 10 units per day. Johnson Farm pays pickers a flat rate of $50 per day, and Henry Farm pays pickers $5 for every unit picked. The pickers know their productivity level, but the farms don't know a picker's productivity until he or she starts working.

Suppose a company's owners have a hard time observing whether management is acting primarily in its own interest or for the benefit of the company. This situation sets up a(n):

Marty, a musician, frequently plays at large parties and nightclubs. Marty has musical equipment worth $8,000, and he takes precautions to prevent theft. The marginal benefit of these precautions is given by MB = 60 - 3A, where A is the number of precautions Marty takes. The marginal cost of preventing theft (i.e., the time, energy, and effort expended) is given by MC = 2A. Suppose Marty purchases full insurance that pays him $8,000 if his gear is stolen. What is Marty's optimal level of precautions?

At a swap meet, 10 sellers are each trying to sell a used 5.7-L Chevy engine. Half the engines are in mint condition, with each valued by its seller at $3,000. The other engines need repair, and each is valued by its seller at $1,000. Buyers value a mint engine at $3,500 and an engine that needs repair at $1,600. Sellers know whether their engine is in mint condition or needs repair, and buyers can distinguish between engines in mint condition and those needing repair. How many engines will be sold at the swap meet?

Use the following to answer questions 22-24: Figure 16.1 -(Figure 16.1) If an individual with no insurance purchases partial coverage, the marginal _____ curve will shift _____, leading her to _____ theft prevention measures.

Principal-agent problems arise from:

The market for used sea kayaks has both a high-quality and low-quality variety. High-quality kayaks are valued at $3,000 and low-quality ones at $800. Supply of used high-quality kayaks is Q_H = 0.5P_H - 1,000, and the supply of used low-quality kayaks is Q_L = P_L - 500. Potential buyers cannot distinguish between a high-quality and a low-quality used kayak. Buyers believe that only 3 of 10 used kayaks are high-quality. What are buyers willing to pay and how many used sea kayaks will be sold?

Carfax offers a report on used cars for $39.99. It details the ownership type and history, vehicle mileage, accident reports, and other information. Carfax is an example of how markets try to:

Ideally, regulations that address low-quality cars should:

The supply of used high-quality motorcycles is Q_H = 0.2P_H - 1,000, and the supply of used low-quality motorcycles is Q_L = 0.5P_L - 1,000. In the used-motorcycle market, potential buyers cannot tell them apart.

In a small island population, half the people are healthy and half are sick. The annual expected medical claims of the healthy and sick are $200 and $4,000, respectively. Assume that the health insurance company does not know whether people are healthy or sick before they buy insurance. If the health insurance company charges an annual premium of $2,100 (the average expected claim), only the _____ will buy insurance, driving future premiums _____.

Which of the following practices mitigates moral hazard?

Suppose workers with a college degree are paid a lifetime income of $500,000 and workers without a college degree are paid $300,000. The cost of obtaining a college degree for high-productivity workers is $100,000. For a college degree to serve as a useful productivity signal, the cost of a college degree for low-productivity workers must be:

Marty, a musician, frequently plays at large parties and nightclubs. Marty has musical equipment worth $8,000, and he takes precautions to prevent theft. The marginal benefit of these precautions is given by MB = 60 - 3A, where A is the number of precautions Marty takes to reduce theft. The marginal cost of preventing theft (i.e., the time, energy, and effort expended) is given by MC = 2A. What is Marty's optimal level of precautions?

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

Consider Troy and Paula, each of whom recently purchased health insurance with a 20% coinsurance rate (i.e., an insured person pays 20% of the price of a physician visit). Troy's demand curve for physician visits is Q_R = 6, and Paula's demand curve for physician visits is Q_P = 20 - 0.10P, where Q represents the number of physician visits and P is the price per visit. Suppose that the market price, P, for physician visits is $100.

Suppose half of workers have high productivity and half of workers have low productivity. High-productivity workers are valued at $100,000 a year and low-productivity workers are valued at $40,000 a year. Because of asymmetric information, employers cannot tell them apart, so all workers are paid according to the average economy-wide value of productivity. If high-productivity workers found a method to signal their productivity to employers, high-productivity pay would _____ by $30,000, and low-productivity pay would _____.

Many people buy used smartphones from eBay, Craigslist, and so on. Some of these phones are good quality, but many others are not, and customers often have a difficult time distinguishing between the two types. Good smartphones are valued at $400 and poor ones at $100. The supply of good smartphones is given by Q_H = 2P_H - 300; that of poor smartphones is given by Q_L = 4P_L - 100. If consumers believe that 40% of used smartphones are good quality, then the expected price of a used smartphone is _____. At that price, _____ good smartphones and _____ poor ones will be sold, making the actual likelihood of buying a good phone equal to _____.

Which of the following statements is (are) TRUE?

Suppose there are four boats available at an auction. The sellers know the quality of their boats but the prospective buyers don't. The buyers know that two of the boats are high-quality and two of the boats are low-quality. Buyers value high-quality boats at $100,000 and low-quality boats at $60,000. Sellers value high-quality boats at $80,000 and low-quality boats at $40,000. If the auctioneer sets a price per boat at $50,000, how many boats and of which type will sellers make available?