Exam 11: Public Goods and Common Resources

Table 11-1 Consider the town of Springfield with only three residents, Sophia, Amber, and Cedric. The three residents are trying to determine how large, in acres, they should build the public park. The table below shows each resident's willingness to pay for each acre of the park. -Refer to Table 11-1. Suppose the cost to build the park is $24 per acre and that the residents have agreed to split the cost of building the park equally. If the residents decide to build a park with size equal to the number of acres that maximizes total surplus from the park, how much total surplus will Sophia receive?

An example of a private good would be

An absence of property rights often leads to market failure. When this is the case, how does society usually solve the problem?

Table 11-4 There are four homes along Belmont Circle, which surrounds a small plot of land. The land currently has no trees, and the 4 homeowners -- Adams, Benitez, Chen, and Davis -- are considering the idea of contributing to a pool of money that will be used to plant up to 4 trees. The table represents their willingness to pay, that is, the maximum amount that each homeowner is willing to contribute toward each tree. -Refer to Table 11-4. Suppose the cost to plant each tree is $340 and the 4 homeowners have agreed to split all tree-planting costs equally. Which homeowner(s) would be in favor of planting at least 1 tree?

Some goods, such as lighthouses, can switch between being public goods and being private goods depending on the circumstances.

Why has the value of ivory threatened the extinction of the elephant, whereas the value of beef has enhanced the survival of the cow?

One person's use of common resources does not reduce the enjoyment other people receive from the resource.

A town engineer comes to the city council with a proposal to install a traffic light at a certain intersection that currently has a stop sign. The benefit of the traffic light is increased safety because the light will reduce the incidence of fatal traffic accidents by 50 percent per year. Which of the following statements is correct?

Because of the free-rider problem,

The free-rider problem makes it unlikely that poverty will be entirely eliminated through private charity.

The failure of markets to adequately protect the environment can viewed either as a problem of

A city street is

Table 11-4 There are four homes along Belmont Circle, which surrounds a small plot of land. The land currently has no trees, and the 4 homeowners -- Adams, Benitez, Chen, and Davis -- are considering the idea of contributing to a pool of money that will be used to plant up to 4 trees. The table represents their willingness to pay, that is, the maximum amount that each homeowner is willing to contribute toward each tree. -Refer to Table 11-4. Suppose the cost to plant each tree is $90. How many trees should be planted to maximize the total surplus of the four homeowners?

Mike Miller is the town manager of Medfield, a town with 50,000 residents. At a recent town meeting, several citizens proposed building a large public swimming pool in the center of town for all of the residents to enjoy. A survey of all 50,000 residents revealed that the pool would be worth $50 to each of them. Because the cost to build the swimming pool is only $1,000,000, Manager Miller arranges to have the pool built. Everyone in town enjoys the pool, but when Manager Miller asks for donations to pay for the pool, he only collects $250,000. Manager Miller soon realizes that

Which of the following would not be considered a private good?

Property rights are well established for

The provision of public goods gives rise to

The privately-owned school system in Smalltown has a virtually unlimited capacity. It accepts all applicants and operates on both tuition and private donations. Although every resident places value on having an educated community, the school's revenues have suffered lately due to a large decline in private donations from the elderly population. Since the benefit that each citizen receives from having an educated community is a public good, which of the following would not be correct?

The creation of knowledge is a public good. Because knowledge is a public good, profit-seeking firms tend to free-ride on the knowledge created by others and, as a result, devote too few resources to the creation of knowledge. How does the U.S. government correct for this apparent market failure?

In what way do public goods give rise to positive externalities?