Exam 11: Public Goods and Common Resources

Suppose that installing an overhead pedestrian walkway would cost a college town $100,000.The walkway is expected to reduce the risk of fatality by 2 percent,and the cost of a human life is estimated at $10 million.The town should

One possible solution to the problem of protecting a common resource is to convert that resource to a private good.

The Tragedy of the Commons for sheep grazing on common land can be eliminated by the government doing each of the following except

Before considering any public project,the government should (i) compare the total cost and total benefits of the project. (ii) conduct a cost-benefit analysis. (iii) infer that citizens who vote for a project are willing to pay equally for it.

Imagine a 2,000-acre park with picnic benches,trees,and a pond.Suppose it is publicly owned,and people are invited to enjoy its beauty.When the weather is nice,it is difficult to find parking,and the trash cans overflow with food wrappers on summer afternoons.Otherwise,it is a great place.The park is a common resource because

Once a common resource is available for consumption,policymakers need to be concerned with

Each of the following is likely to be a successful way for the government to solve the problem of overuse of a common resource except

Why do elephants face the threat of extinction while cows do not?

A cost-benefit analysis of a highway is difficult to conduct because analysts

Which of the following goods is excludable and not rival in consumption?

The best way of determining the value of a human life is to

Goods that are both nonexcludable and rival in consumption would be considered

As with many public goods,determining the appropriate level of government support for the production of general knowledge is difficult because

An example of a private good would be

Most lighthouses are operated by the government because

If the use of a common resource is not regulated,

The free-rider problem exists with

The free-rider problem arises when the number of beneficiaries is large and exclusion of any of them is impossible.

Uncongested,nontoll roads are a good example of a

The value and cost of goods are easiest to determine when the goods are