Deck 17: Public Goods and Common Resources

Question 1

An example of a public good is:

A)a court of law.B.clothing.
C)food.
D)a state university.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

A(n) is excludable and rival in consumption.

A)private good
B)artificially scarce good
C)public good
D)common resource

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A good is most likely to be artificially scarce if:

A)it is nonexcludable and nonrival.
B)the seller is a monopolist.
C)it is nonexcludable but rival.
D)it is excludable but nonrival.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following goods best fits the characteristics of a private good?

A)a professor giving a lecture in a large classroom
B)an ice-cream cone
C)fire protection
D)disease prevention

Question 5

Television programs are nonrival because:

A)the supplier cannot prevent consumption by people who do not pay for it.
B)more than one person can consume the same unit of the good at the same time.
C)individuals ignore the effect their use has on the amount of the resource remaining for others.
D)the market suffers from inefficiently low consumption.

Question 6

Which of the following goods best fits the characteristics of a private good?

A)national defense
B)clean water
C)a pizza
D)police protection

Question 7

A private good is:

A)excludable and rival in consumption.
B)nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption.
C)excludable and nonrival in consumption.
D)nonexcludable and rival in consumption.

Question 8

Whether or not they pay for them, people cannot be excluded from receiving the benefits of:

A)private goods.
B)public goods.
C)common resources.
D)either public goods or common resources.

Question 9

A(n) is nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption.

A)private good
B)artificially scarce good
C)public good
D)common resource

Question 10

Which of the following goods is most likely a public good?

A)the Internet
B)a public park
C)a pair of pants
D)fire protection provided by the local fire department

Question 11

An artificially scarce good is a good or service for which exclusion is:

A)possible and is rival in consumption.
B)possible and is nonrival in consumption.
C)not possible and is rival in consumption.
D)not possible and is nonrival in consumption.

Question 12

The best example of a private good is:

A)an automobile.
B)public education.
C)national defense.
D)law enforcement.

Question 13

A common resource is a good or service for which exclusion is:

A)possible and which is rival in consumption.
B)possible and which is nonrival in consumption.
C)not possible and which is rival in consumption.
D)not possible and which is nonrival in consumption.

Question 14

Which of the following goods is most likely an artificially scarce good?

A)tickets to a boxing match
B)pay-per-view of a boxing match
C)health care
D)the police department

Question 15

A public good is a good or service for which exclusion is:

A)possible and which is rival in consumption.
B)possible and which is nonrival in consumption.
C)not possible and which is rival in consumption.
D)not possible and which is nonrival in consumption.

Question 16

When Joe watched a television movie, his viewing was in consumption because other people able to view the movie at the same time Joe did.

A)nonrival; were
B)rival; were
C)rival; were not
D)nonrival; were not

Question 17

Which of the following is an example of a nonexcludable good?

A)health care
B)national defense
C)education
D)ice cream

Question 18

Which of the following goods is most likely a common resource?

A)the Super Bowl
B)a public park
C)a pair of pants
D)the fire department

Question 19

A private good is a good or service for which exclusion is:

A)possible and which is rival in consumption.
B)possible and which is nonrival in consumption.
C)not possible and which is rival in consumption.
D)not possible and which is nonrival in consumption.

Question 20

Clean water in a river is nonexcludable because:

A)the supplier cannot prevent consumption by people who do not pay for it.
B)more than one person can consume the same unit of the good at the same time.
C)individuals ignore the effect their use has on the amount of the resource remaining for others.
D)the market suffers from inefficiently low consumption.

Question 21

Public goods differ from common resources in that:

A)both are nonrival in consumption, but public goods are excludable, while common resources are nonexcludable.
B)both are excludable, but public goods are nonrival in consumption, while common resources are rival in consumption.
C)both are nonexcludable, but public goods are nonrival in consumption, while common resources are rival in consumption.
D)both are rival in consumption, but public goods are nonexcludable, while common resources are excludable.

Question 22

Although most citizens have access to police protection, they also take measures, such as putting locks on their doors, to protect themselves.We can explain this because police protection is a(n) ________ good, while self-protection is a(n) good.

A)public; private
B)public; artificially scarce good
C)common resource; private
D)artificially scarce good; common resource

Question 23

National defense and clean air are similar in that both are , but they differ in that national defense is while clean air is not.

A)rival in consumption; excludable
B)nonrival in consumption; excludable
C)excludable; rival in consumption
D)nonexcludable; nonrival in consumption

Question 24

National defense and ebooks are similar in that both are , but they differ in that national defense is while ebooks are not.

A)rival in consumption; excludable
B)nonrival in consumption; nonexcludable
C)excludable; rival in consumption
D)nonexcludable; nonrival in consumption

Question 25

The best example of a common resource is:

A)public education.
B)a municipal library.
C)clean water.
D)cable television broadcasting.

Question 26

The best example of an artificially scarce good is:

A)legal services.
B)national defense.
C)a municipal library.
D)cable television broadcasting.

Question 27

If a good has a marginal cost of production of zero and an inefficiently low level of consumption, the good must be a(n):

A)private good.
B)public good.
C)common resource.
D)artificially scarce good.

Question 28

Josh has an iPhone and frequently downloads songs from the iTunes website.He pays a small fee for each download, but downloading a song does not remove it from the iTunes inventory.Other consumers can also pay the fee and download a song that Josh might have already accessed.The iTunes service is best described as:

A)a private good.
B)a public good.
C)an artificially scarce good.
D)a common resource.

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of a private good?

A)traffic lights
B)mountain bike trails in a national forest
C)a fast-food cheeseburger
D)cell phone service

Question 30

As a big music fan, you want to attend a weekend blues festival in your town.The purchase of a wristband gives you and thousands of other fans access to the outdoor concert pavilion.The blues festival is a good that has the characteristics of being:

A)rival and excludable.
B)nonrival and excludable.
C)rival and nonexcludable.
D)nonrival and nonexcludable.

Question 31

DeVonda owns a music store.One night, vandals broke her store's front window.DeVonda called the police, and the police investigated the crime.The police services that DeVonda used are best described as:

A)private goods.
B)public goods.
C)artificially scarce goods.
D)common resources.

Question 32

Stephanie stops at a gas station to fill up the tank of her car.The gallons of unleaded gasoline in her tank are best described as:

A)private goods.
B)public goods.
C)artificially scarce goods.
D)common resources.

Question 33

An electronic book is an artificially scarce good because the private market prevent consumption by people who do not pay for it.Further, the same e-Book be
Consumed by more than one person at the same time.

A)can; can
B)cannot; cannot
C)can; cannot
D)cannot; can

Question 34

The best example of a public good is:

A)legal services.
B)national defense.
C)a municipal library.
D)cable television broadcasting.

Question 35

A whale is a common resource because the private market prevent consumption by people who do not pay for it, and the same unit be consumed by more than one
Person at the same time.

A)can; can
B)cannot; cannot
C)can; cannot
D)cannot; can

Question 36

The best example of a good whose consumption is excludable in consumption is:

A)a park.
B)an ocean.
C)a bicycle.
D)national defense.

Question 37

If the market produces an efficient level of a good, then we know that the good must be ________ and in consumption.

A)nonexcludable; nonrival
B)nonexcludable; rival
C)excludable; nonrival
D)excludable; rival

Question 38

When comparing the characteristics of common resources and artificially scarce goods, we find that:

A)they are both nonrival in consumption.
B)they are both excludable.
C)common resources are nonrival in consumption (while artificially scarce goods are not), and artificially scarce goods are nonexcludable (while common resources are not).
D)artificially scarce goods are nonrival in consumption (while common resources are not), and common resources are nonexcludable (while artificially scarce goods are not).

Question 39

Wenqin lives in a city that has a huge public rose garden.Residents can stroll through the rose garden, enjoy the scenic vistas, or have a picnic, all without paying a fee.The public rose garden is a good that is best described as:

A)rival and excludable.
B)nonrival and excludable.
C)rival and nonexcludable.
D)nonrival and nonexcludable.

Question 40

Bluefin tuna travel in schools throughout the world's oceans.Fishing boats from many nations harvest bluefin tuna as the schools migrate through their national waters.The schools of bluefin tuna are best described as:

A)a private good.
B)a public good.
C)an artificially scarce resource.
D)a common resource.

Question 41

Most neighborhood streets are illuminated at night by streetlights.The streetlights are ________ and ________.Therefore, they are likely to be by the competitive
Market.

A)nonrival; nonexcludable; underprovided
B)nonrival; nonexcludable; overprovided
C)rival; excludable; efficiently provided
D)nonrival; excludable; underprovided

Question 42

If left to the private market, the amount of police protection provided in a city would be ________ than it is now, and free riders would pay for police protection.

A)more; more
B)more; nothing
C)less; nothing
D)less; a higher price

Question 43

If a good is subject to the free-rider problem and an inefficiently low level of production, the good must be a(n):

A)private good.
B)public good.
C)common resource.
D)artificially scarce good.

Question 44

An inefficient allocation of resources will occur when:

A)decision makers are faced with the full costs and benefits of their actions.
B)there are clearly defined property rights.
C)no alternative exists that would increase the welfare of society.
D)decision makers are not faced with the full benefits and costs of their choices.

Question 45

The free-rider problem is a direct result of:

A)the inability to exclude nonpayers.
B)marginal-cost pricing.
C)full-cost pricing.
D)horizontally summed supply curves.

Question 46

If a good is subject to the free-rider problem and an inefficiently high level of consumption, the good must be a(n):

A)private good.
B)public good.
C)common resource.
D)artificially scarce good.

Question 47

For a good to be efficiently provided by the private market, which of the following is essential?

A)It is rival in consumption.
B)It is excludable.
C)It is a common resource.
D)It is rival in consumption and it is excludable.

Question 48

An e-Book is similar to a published book in that it is , but it is also similar to national defense in that it is _.

A)rival in consumption; nonexcludable
B)nonrival in consumption; excludable
C)excludable; nonrival in consumption
D)nonexcludable; rival in consumption

Question 49

An artificially scarce good is similar to a public good in that it is , but it is also similar to a private good in that it is _.

A)nonrival in consumption; nonexcludable
B)nonrival in consumption; excludable
C)excludable; nonrival in consumption
D)nonexcludable; rival in consumption

Question 50

When the allocation of resources is such that a different allocation would increase society's welfare, economists say:

A)there is market failure.
B)the efficiency condition is met.
C)decision makers have faced the marginal benefits and marginal costs of their decisions.
D)producers have maximized total cost.

Question 51

For a nonrival good like pay-per-view television programs, the private market will lead to:

A)production of too much of the good.
B)consumption of too much of the good.
C)consumption of too little of the good.
D)outsourcing its production.

Question 52

The free-rider problem refers to:

A)the situation in the Old West when land was largely unfenced and riders had unfettered access to private range land.
B)qualifications, or riders, that clients do not request, but which lawyers tend to include in contracts anyway at no extra charge.
C)a variation on the phrase "There's no such thing as a free lunch," which is replaced by "There's no such thing as a free ride."
D)a situation in which consumers have no incentive to pay for a nonexcludable good.

Question 53

The tendency of people to avoid paying for a good's benefits when the benefits can be obtained free is called the:

A)free-cost problem.
B)free-rider problem.
C)free-goods problem.
D)free-market problem.

Question 54

For a nonexcludable good like national defense, the private market will lead to:

A)too much production of the good.
B)too much consumption of the good.
C)too little production of the good.
D)too little consumption of the good.

Question 55

If left to the private market, the amount of fire protection provided in a city would be ________ than it is now, and free riders would pay for fire protection.

A)greater; more
B)greater; nothing
C)lower; nothing
D)lower; a higher price

Question 56

You work in an office and one of your co-workers has announced his retirement.You have offered to purchase the retirement gift, so you place a collection jar in the lunch room for anonymous donations to help pay for the gift.After a week you find that very few dollars are in the jar, so you end up paying for a large share of the retirement gift.You are the victim of the:

A)common resource problem.
B)private good problem.
C)overuse of a common resource problem.
D)free-rider problem.

Question 57

An individual is more likely to be a free rider when a good is:

A)private.
B)nonexcludable.
C)nonrival.
D)artificially scarce.

Question 58

When the market does not result in an efficient allocation of scarce resources, economists say there has been _.

A)market dropout.
B)normative economics.
C)market disincentives.D.market failure.

Question 59

The tendency of people or firms to consume a public good without paying for it is called the ________ problem.

A)free-cost
B)free-rider
C)free-goods
D)free-market

Question 60

A software program is similar to an apple in that it is , but it is also similar to public safety in that it is _.

A)rival in consumption; nonexcludable
B)nonrival in consumption; excludable
C)excludable; nonrival in consumption
D)nonexcludable; rival in consumption

Question 61

Volunteer fire departments are good examples of the ________ provision of _.

A)private; private goods
B)public; common resources
C)private; public goods
D)public; artificially scarce goods

Question 62

Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth (Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth) Plymouth has 1,000 residents.The figure Traffic Lights in Plymouth shows the marginal social benefit and marginal cost of traffic lights in town.We know that each of the residents has the same individual marginal benefit per traffic light.Without government intervention, the town will have traffic lights.

A)0
B)4
C)8
D)12

Question 63

Since the public safety that a police force provides is in consumption, the efficient price _.

A)rival; is zero
B)nonrival; is zero
C)rival; equals marginal social benefit
D)nonrival; equals marginal social benefit

Question 64

In the United Kingdom, most television programming is paid for by a yearly license fee assessed on every television owner."Television detection vans" go through neighborhoods to detect unlicensed households and keep them from viewing without paying.This is a good example of the ________ provision of _.

A)public; private goods
B)private; goods that are nonexcludable in consumption
C)public; common resources
D)private; artificially scarce goods

Question 65

For which of the following goods is the marginal social benefit necessarily greater than the marginal private benefit?

A)public goods
B)common resources
C)artificially scarce goods
D)private goods

Question 66

A public good is a good:

A)whose consumption is nonexcludable and nonrival.
B)for which the marginal cost of adding another consumer is high.
C)that the market will usually provide efficiently.
D)whose consumption is rival.

Question 67

Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth
(Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth) Plymouth has 1,000 residents.The figure Traffic Lights in Plymouth shows the marginal social benefit and marginal cost of traffic lights in town.We know that each of the residents has the same individual marginal benefit per traffic light.If the government provides traffic lights, the socially efficient quantity is:

A)0.
B)4.
C)8.
D)12.

Question 68

The best example of a good whose consumption is not excludable is:

A)a yard.
B)a house.
C)a bicycle.
D)national defense.

Question 69

Suppose the small town of Falls Valley has a mosquito problem.After a bad summer, the town accountants explain that the marginal cost of providing one more treatment for mosquito control is $100,000.The town should provide the additional mosquito control only if the marginal:

A)benefit for any individual citizen is at least $100,000.
B)benefit for all individual citizens adds up to at least $100,000.
C)social cost of mosquito control is more than $100,000.
D)social cost of mosquito control is less than $100,000.

Question 70

A key element that a public good displays is:

A)overproduction.
B)rival consumption.
C)payment through charitable contributions.
D)nonexclusion.

Question 71

Which of the following activities is a public good?

A)going to school
B)voting
C)smoking
D)getting a flu shot

Question 72

A public good is ________ and in consumption.

A)excludable; rival
B)nonexcludable; nonrival
C)excludable; nonrival
D)nonexcludable; rival

Question 73

Public goods are not sold in efficient quantities in the marketplace because:

A)once supplied to a buyer, they are made available at no cost to someone else.
B)the more one person has, the less another person has.
C)they are usually so costly that only the wealthy can afford them.
D)they are usually very poor quality goods.

Question 74

(Table: Street Cleanings) Peter and Wendy both benefit from having cleaner streets.The table Street Cleanings shows the relationship between the number of street cleanings per month and the total benefit they get.What is the marginal social benefit for Peter and Wendy together when the number of street cleanings per month increases from 4 to 5?

A)$30
B)$60
C)$6
D)$15

Question 75

Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth (Figure: Traffic Lights in Plymouth) Plymouth has 1,000 residents.The figure Traffic Lights in Plymouth shows the marginal social benefit and marginal cost of traffic lights in town.We know that each resident has the same individual marginal benefit per traffic light.If the town's population doubles and the new residents share the identical individual marginal benefit of the existing residents, the socially efficient quantity of traffic lights will:

A)stay the same.
B)fall.
C)rise.
D)fall to zero.

Question 76

For a public good, nonpayers excluded from obtaining the benefits of the good.

A)can be
B)are automatically
C)usually are
D)cannot be

Question 77

Which of the following is used to provide public goods?

A)voluntary contributions
B)taxes
C)self-interested business firms
D)all of the above

Question 78

Public goods should be produced up to the point at which the marginal cost of production equals:

A)the maximum price any individual is willing to pay for that unit.
B)the sum of the individual marginal benefits from all consumers of that unit.
C)zero, which is the marginal cost of allowing another individual to consume the good.
D)the highest marginal benefit from any individual consumer of the good.

Question 79

Which of the following is the best example of a good whose consumption is not excludable?

A)clothing
B)ice cream
C)a taco
D)national defense

Question 80

No individual is willing to pay to provide the efficient level of a public good, since the:

A)marginal cost of production is zero.
B)good will be nonrival and thus underconsumed.
C)individual's marginal benefit is less than the marginal social benefit.
D)marginal benefit of allowing one more individual to consume the good is zero.