Deck 4: Public Goods 

Question 1

The free-rider problem is less acute in small groups than it is in large groups.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The demand curve for a pure public good is obtained by adding the quantities demanded by each individual consumer at each possible price.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A pure public good is one for which it is easy to exclude consumers from benefits if they refuse to pay.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The marginal social cost of producing another unit of a pure public good will always be positive.

Question 5

Television programming is a good example of a price-excludable public good.

Question 6

If the efficient amount of a pure public good is produced, each person consumes it up to the point at which his or her marginal benefit equals the marginal social cost of the good.

Question 7

A common way to fund a public good is through a government that raises funds through taxation.

Question 8

Clubs are a means of providing congestible public goods through markets.

Question 9

In a Lindahl equilibrium, each consumer of a pure public good consumes the same quantity and pays a tax share per unit of the good equal to his or her marginal benefit.

Question 10

A Lindahl equilibrium usually has each participant paying the same tax share per unit of a public good even though their marginal benefit of that unit varies.

Question 11

A congestible good has no limits on how much it can be consumed.

Question 12

To obtain a demand curve for a pure public good, the marginal benefit of each consumer must be summed for each possible quantity produced per time period.

Question 13

A pure public good is:

A)one that can easily be sold by the unit.
B)one that is nonrival in consumption.
C)one whose benefits are not subject to exclusion.
D)Both (b) and (c) are correct.

Question 14

Internet service is an example of a price-excludable public good.

Question 15

If the marginal social cost of a pure public good exceeds its marginal social benefit, additional units of the good can still be financed by voluntary contributions.

Question 16

Bread is an example of a good that is nonrival in consumption.

Question 17

Private education is an example of a price-excludable public good.

Question 18

It is possible to price a pure public good and sell it by the unit.

Question 19

A congestible public good is one for which the marginal cost of allowing an additional consumer to enjoy the benefits of a given quantity is always zero.

Question 20

The marginal cost of providing a certain quantity of a pure public good to an additional consumer after it is provided to any one consumer is:

A)zero.
B)positive and increasing.
C)positive and decreasing.
D)positive and constant.

Question 21

The marginal cost of making a given quantity of a congestible public good available to more con?sumers is:

A)always zero.
B)positive and increasing.
C)positive and decreasing.
D)zero at first but eventually becomes positive and increasing.

Question 22

A means of creating a price-excludable public good is:

A)allowing food and beverages when entering.
B)requiring costly tickets.
C)to fund through taxation.
D)requiring identification.

Question 23

The demand curve for a pure public good is:

A)a horizontal line.
B)obtained by adding the quantities individual consumers would purchase at each possible price.
C)obtained by adding the marginal benefit obtained by each consumer at each possible quantity.
D)the marginal cost curve for the pure public good.

Question 24

The principle of nonexclusion for pure public goods means that the benefits of the good:

A)are shared.
B)can be priced.
C)cannot be withheld from consumers even if they refuse to pay.
D)are not reduced to any one consumer when a given quantity is consumed by another.

Question 25

Education is:

A)a pure public good.
B)a pure private good.
C)a good that has characteristics of both public goods and private goods.
D)not subject to the exclusion principle.

Question 26

The free-rider problem:

A)becomes more serious as the number of persons involved in voluntarily financing a pure public good decreases.
B)becomes more serious as the number of persons involved in voluntarily financing a pure public good increases.
C)is independent of the number of persons involved in a scheme to voluntarily finance a pure public good.
D)does not prevent voluntary cooperation from efficiently providing pure public goods.

Question 27

Cable TV programming is an example of a:

A)congestible public good.
B)price-excludable public good.
C)pure public good.
D)pure private good.

Question 28

Public transportation is:

A)a congestible good.
B)a pure private good.
C)a good without limits to the number of consumers who desire to use it.
D)not subject to the exclusion principle.

Question 29

The monthly rental rate for a satellite dish antenna is $200.The maximum marginal benefit that any resident of a condominium community will obtain per month from the antenna is $50.There are 100 residents in the community, none of whom values the antenna at less than $25 per month.Assuming that the antenna is a pure public good for residents of the community,

A)each resident of the community will rent his own antenna.
B)it is inefficient for the community to rent an antenna.
C)it is efficient for the members of the community to rent an antenna for their common use.
D)it is efficient for each resident to rent his own antenna.

Question 30

Which of the following is a good example of a congestible public good?

A)TV programming
B)a road
C)a loaf of bread
D)homeland security

Question 31

In a Lindahl equilibrium,

A)each consumer purchases a pure public good up to the point at which his or her marginal bene?fit equals the marginal social cost of the good.
B)each person pays a tax per unit of the pure public good equal to his or her marginal benefit.
C)the sum of the marginal benefits of all consumers equals the marginal social cost of the good.
D)Both (b) and (c) are correct.

Question 32

A free concert in a public arena is:

A)a non-congestible public good.
B)a good that can be consumed by all.
C)a private good.
D)subject to consumption limits.

Question 33

The nonrival property of pure public goods implies that the:

A)benefits enjoyed by existing consumers decline as more consumers enjoy a given quantity of the good.
B)benefits enjoyed by existing consumers are unaffected as more consumers enjoy a given quan?tity of the good.
C)good cannot be priced.
D)marginal cost of producing the good is zero.

Question 34

A major distinction between pure public goods and pure private goods is that:

A)pure private goods can easily be priced and sold in markets.
B)pure public goods can easily be divided into units.
C)pure public goods can only be collectively consumed.
D)Both (a) and (c) are correct.

Question 35

The property of nonexclusion of a pure public good depends on the technology of pricing.Changes in technology can make it possible to price goods and services that were previously unpriceable.Suppose a new electronic device is available that can monitor the miles traveled by vehicles on
public roads.The device would be required on all vehicles and would make it feasible to price each mile traveled at any rate.How would you determine the price of road services per mile to achieve efficient road utilization?

Question 36

An example of an undesirable public good (or public "bad") is:

A)government.
B)private trash hauling.
C)poor air quality.
D)private property.

Question 37

Summer open-air concerts are a pure public good in a small town.The average cost of each concert per night is constant at $500.Explain why it would be inefficient to require each resident of a com?munity to hire their own orchestra at the $500 rate for each concert.Assuming that the marginal benefit of the first concert is $25 for each of the 1,000 residents of the community, prove that it will be efficient to have more than one concert per summer.If the concert were financed with voluntary contributions, what conditions would have to prevail to achieve the efficient number of concerts per summer?

Question 38

Which of the following is true in a Lindahl equilibrium for cooperative supply of a pure public good?

A)The sum of the tax shares per unit paid by each consumer is equal to the marginal social cost of the public good.
B)The sum of the tax shares per unit paid by each consumer is equal to the marginal social benefit of the good.
C)The sum of the tax shares per unit paid by each consumer is maximized.
D)Both (a) and (b) are correct.

Question 39

The efficient output of a pure public good is achieved at the point at which:

A)the marginal benefit obtained by each consumer equals the marginal social cost of producing the good.
B)the sum of the marginal benefits of all consumers equals the marginal social cost of producing the good.
C)the marginal benefit of each consumer equals zero.
D)the marginal social cost of producing the good is zero.
E)Both (c) and (d) are correct.

Question 40

A baseball field is:

A)a pure public good.
B)a pure private good.
C)a good that has characteristics of both public goods and private goods.
D)not subject to the exclusion principle.