Econ 438 Exam 3
Hello, dear friend, you can consult us at any time if you have any questions, add WeChat: daixieit
Econ 438 Exam 3
1 .(20 pts) Three residents of a community are deciding the size of their community park . Each acre of park costs $9,000 . The marginal benefit of an additional acre at a given size of the park for each resident is as follows:
marginal benefit for |
|||
# of acres |
resident A |
resident B |
resident C |
1 |
$4,000 |
$6,000 |
$15,000 |
2 |
$3,000 |
$4,500 |
$12,000 |
3 |
$2,000 |
$3,000 |
$9,000 |
4 |
$1,000 |
$2,000 |
$6,000 |
5 |
$500 |
$1,500 |
$4,000 |
6 |
$100 |
$1,000 |
$3,000 |
7 |
$50 |
$500 |
$2,000 |
(a)(5 pts) What is the socially optimal size of the park?
(b)(5 pts) If each resident is taxed equally (a head tax) and the size of the park is decided by majority voting, what will be the size of the park?
(c)(5 pts) A properly designed proportional tax can achieve socially optimal public good provision in a community with different income groups. Suppose as the social planner you know each resident’s marginal benefit. In order to achieve socially optimal size of the park, how much would you charge resident A, B, and C for each acre of the park, respectively?
(d)(5 pts) If resident C "votes with his feet" and forms a new community with two other residents who share the same preference, what is the size of the park in that new com- munity? Is that size of the park socially optimal for the new community? Assume that the new community uses majority voting in deciding the size of the park.
2 .(15 pts) In this question we analyze how changes in policy and economic
environment affect the crime rate .
(a)(5 pts) The following diagram shows the relationship between legitimate income and the ability of an individual. Assume that the potential income from criminal activities is 0.4 for all people, draw the line for criminal income. Mark in the diagram individuals who become criminals.
$
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
n
(b)(5 pts) The mayor of the city recently doubles the size of the police department, which makes it more likely for criminals to get caught. How does this affect the number of criminals in the city? Show this in the diagram above.
(c)(5 pts) Suppose due to technological changes, the richest portion of the population (top 5%) are now making more money from their legitimate jobs. Draw the new legitimate income curve in the diagram below. Suppose income from criminal activities increases as a result of the change in income distribution, how does this affect the crime rate in the city?
$
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
n
3.(15 pts) Suppose there are three houses, the first house has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; the second house has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms; the third house has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Other characteristics of the three houses are the same. The prices for the three houses are $75,000, $100,000 and $140,000, respectively. According to the hedonic price model, what is the price for an additional bathroom? What’s the price of an additional bedroom?
4 .(25 pts) This problem illustrates a consumer’s decision to be homeless in the presence of a minimum housing-consumption constraint, imposed through misguided government regu- lation . Let c denote “bread” consumption and q denote housing consumption in square feet of floor space . Suppose that a unit
of bread costs $1 and that rent is $1 per square foot. The
(a)(5 pts) How large a dwelling would the consumer rent? How much does the consumer spend on bread?
(b)(10 pts) Now suppose that minimum housing-consumption constraint says that q must be 500 square feet or larger. Dwellings that have a square footage under 500 no longer exist on the market. How large a dwelling would the consumer rent? How much does the consumer spend on bread?
(c)(5 pts) Compute the utility levels associated with cases with and without minimum housing-consumption constraints. Under which case does the consumer have a higher level of utility?
(d)(5 pts) How do your answers to parts (a) and (b) change if α = 101?
5 .(25 pts) The city has an expressway and alternative routes . The expressway gets
congested . Suppose there are three potential users of the freeway: A, B, and C .
The cost of the best alternative route for each com muter is as follows:
commuter alternate cost
A B C |
$7 $5 $3 |
t T(ra)ffiA(c)volCume T is as follows:
1 $2
2 $5
3 $9
Using this information, answer the following questions:
(a)(10 pts) Find the equilibrium allocation of traffic between the freeway and alternative routes, i.e., who will be using the expressway, who will be using alternative routes?
(b)(10 pts) Compute the total commuting cost for all commuters for the following four al- locations of traffic. Total cost is the cost incurred by freeway users plus the cost incurred by commuters who use their alternate
routes. On freeway |
On |
alternate |
|
routes No one A A,B A,B,C |
A,B,C B,C C No one |
(c)(5 pts) Remember that the socially optimal allocation of traffic between the freeway and alternate routes is the one that minimizes total commuting cost for all commuters. On the basis of your answer to (b), which allocation is socially optimal? How does total cost at the optimum compare with the total cost at the equilibrium? How would you design a toll on freeway such that the optimal level is achieved in a market equilibrium? (Note that you don’t have to use a marginal cost curve to get the answer to this question.)
2022-04-28