Exam 11: Public Goods and Common Resources

When an infinite value is placed on human life which of the following represents policymakers who rely on cost-benefit analysis? (i) they are forced to pursue any project in which a single human life is saved (ii) they are likely to make decisions that optimally allocate society's scarce resources (iii) they are left with nonsensical results

A lighthouse is typically considered a good example of a public good because:

Which of the following statements best describes the cause of 'overrun and over-trampled' national parks?

Congested roads are a good example of a:

For the purpose of cost-benefit analysis, the value of a human life is sometimes calculated on the basis of:

In deciding whether something is a public good, which of the following must one determine? (i) the number of beneficiaries (ii) the value of external benefits which accrue to resource owners (iii) the excludability of the beneficiaries

A free rider is someone who receives the benefit of a good but avoids paying for it.

The government subsidises basic research in mathematics, physics, economics and other fields in order to correct for private market failure.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has determined that the probability of a worker dying from exposure to a hazardous chemical used in the production of diet soft drinks is 0.0005. The cost of imposing a regulation that would ban this chemical is $18 million. If each person saved has a value equal to $10 million, how many people must the policy affect in order for benefits to exceed costs?

A good solution to saving the tiger from extinction would be to:

Historically speaking, when a city builds more roads, its traffic problems decrease.

Assuming that everyone prefers to live in a society without poverty, which of the following statements are true of private anti-poverty programs? (i) people who don't contribute still receive benefits from the general reduction in poverty (ii) the socially optimal level of charitable donations is greater than those actually received, because of the free-rider problem (iii) there is no individual incentive to contribute to private anti-poverty programs since the government is the sole supplier

Basic research is a public good because it:

In the market for a good like ice-cream cones:

Oil deposits are often considered a common resource. If this is true, then for a group of land owners over an oil pool:

Jack criticises the idea of road tolls to fix congestion problems because he says they would allow the rich to drive more than the poor. You counter-argue by saying that road tolls could potentially address these equity issues and offer even an egalitarian solution. You propose to Jack that each automobile owner be given a specified debit card balance every year and that those who are willing to drive less can sell their unused balance to those who want to drive more. Jack likes your proposal, especially because of the manner in which your plan redistributes income. What groups of people might benefit from this implicit redistribution of income?

Careers that lend substance to the approach of valuing human life by evaluating the risk that people are voluntarily willing to take and the compensation they require for those risks include:

Even economists who advocate small government agree that national defence is a good that the government should provide.

Explain the fundamental reason that common resources have a tendency to be exploited in private markets.

Market failure with common resources occurs because: