Exam 20: Uncertainty and Information

Dana wants to try working as an independent contractor this summer. She has a 50 percent chance that she will make $10,000 and 50 percent chance that she will make nothing. What's Dana's expected income from taking this job?

Suppose there are only two kind of cars in the market for used cars: lemons and good cars. A lemon is worth $1,000 both to its current owner and to anyone who buys it. A good car is worth $8,000 to its current and potential owners. Buyers can't tell whether a car is a lemon until after they have bought the car, and there is no warranty. What is the prevailing price of a used car?

A risk averse person's utility of wealth curve has a

George is considering buying shares of Intel. If the company does well, he will gain $100, but if the company does poorly, he will lose $100. George is risk averse, so for George the magnitude of the pain of losing $100 will ________ the pleasure of gaining $100.

Hostess Brands is selling off its assets after liquidation. A potential buyer for the Twinkies brand has found that the total revenue will be $3 billion a year if the brand is managed well and $1 billion a year if the brand is managed poorly. There is .6 (or 60 percent) chance of managing the brand well and a .4 (or 40 percent) chance of managing the brand poorly. What is the expected total revenue?

Adverse selection occurs when a sales offer attracts the kinds of customers that the seller does not want.

Questions about employment history on a loan application are used to prevent

The tendency for people to enter into agreements in which they can use their private information to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the less informed party is known as

For a risk averse person, an increase in wealth brings ________ total utility of wealth and ________ marginal utility of wealth.

-Steve owns a motorcycle valued at $5,000 and that is his only asset. There is a 5 percent chance that Steve will have an accident within a year. If he does have an accident, his motorcycle is worthless. Steve's utility of wealth curve is shown in the figure above. An insurance company agrees to pay Steve the full value of his motorcycle in case of an accident if he buys the company's insurance policy. The company's operating expenses are $500 per policy. Both Steve and the insurance company will gain if the insurance premium is

The use of incentive payments for salespeople combats

-Ashton has the utility of wealth curve shown in the above figure. He owns a sports car worth $30,000, and that is his only wealth. Ashton is a careless driver and there is a 30 percent chance that he will have an accident within a year. If he does have an accident, his car is worthless. Ashton would have the same expected utility as he currently has if his wealth was ________ and he faced no uncertainty.

-The above figure shows the utility of wealth curve for a homeowner whose only possession is a $50,000 house. If there is a 20 percent chance that the home could be entirely destroyed, what is the person's cost of risk?

Nicole is indifferent between option A, which gives her $20,000 for sure, and option B, which gives her $10,000 with probability 0.5 or $32,000 with probability 0.5. Nicole's cost of risk for option B is

-Andrew has the utility of wealth curve shown in the above figure. He owns an SUV worth $30,000 and that is his only wealth. There is a 10 percent chance that he will have an accident within a year. If he does have an accident, his SUV is worthless. Suppose all SUV owners are like Andrew. An insurance company agrees to pay each person who has an accident the full value of his/her SUV. The company's operating expenses are $1,500. What is the minimum insurance premium that the company is willing to accept?

Moral hazard and adverse selection are the result of

-Gunnar can work as a campus security officer at a guaranteed salary of $20,000 per year or as a real estate agent. If Gunnar works as a real estate agent, there is a 50 percent chance that he will earn $10,000 per year and a 50 percent chance that he will earn $30,000 per year. Based on the table above, Gunnar's expected utility if he works as a real estate agent is

Warranties in the used car market ________ the problem of private information thereby causing the price of good and bad used cars to ________.

Adverse selection is the tendency for people who accept contracts to be those who

The cost of risk is the amount by which expected wealth must increase to give the same ________ as a no-risk situation.