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Public goods create a free-rider problem because
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people can enjoy the good or service no matter whether or not they pay for it.
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If there are positive externalities in the production of a good and firms do not have to account for these external benefits, then firms will produce an amount that:
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Is below society's wealth maximizing quantity
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Under a tradable permit system,
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The government allows a certain level of pollution and issues permits for this amount, after which any interested party can buy or sell these permits
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The Coasian solution to dealing with externalities is feasible when:
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The pollution is being generated by a large number of polluters
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External benefits cause the market to:
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underallocate resources.
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One method of correcting for ____ externalities is to create a ____ to make sure the market accounts for all costs and benefits.
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negative; tax
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Which of the following is an example of a negative externality?
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John plants fruit trees in his front yard, which attracts bees, which sting neighbor Mary.
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People will tend to "internalize externalities" when
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responsibility for the consequences of actions is more clearly assigned to the actors.
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The primary reason buffalos were hunted to extinction in 19th century America is because:
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No one owned buffalos and buffalos were worth a lot of money
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Which of the following is an example of the free-rider problem?
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Mathur figures that he does not have to work so hard for his biology group project because his three other teammates will do a substantive share of the work
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Which of the following is typically a non-excludable resource?
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Iron ore in a mine
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Which of the following is an example of a pure public good?
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An army.
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A free rider is someone who
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can obtain a desired good without paying for it and therefore has no incentive to contribute to the costs of making it available.
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What is meant by a command and control approach to public policy?
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It is a policy in which to foster socially desirable behavior, the government simply mandates behavior in law and imposes a penalty for violation of that law
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Which of the following is not a problem associated with command and control policies?
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Command and control policies cannot be used to reduce pollution where there are a large number of polluters, such as pollution from automobiles
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Which of the following characterizes a Pigouvian tax?
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It is tax levied on a good that creates the negative externality such that the tax equals the value of the harm created by the good
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The problem of "free riders" arises in a society when goods
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can't be provided exclusively to the people who pay for them.
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To increase its profit, a perfectly competitive firm will produce more output when
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price is greater than marginal cost.
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The above figure illustrates a perfectly competitive firm. Curve A represents the
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MR curve.
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Under which of the following conditions will a profit-maximizing perfectly competitive firm shut down in the short run?
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when the price is less than its minimum average variable cost
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If perfectly competitive lawn care firms are making an economic profit, then
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new firms will enter the industry.
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The above figure shows a perfectly competitive firm. If the market price is $10, the firm
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is making zero economic profit.
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Bill owns a lawn-care company in Windermere, Florida, Florida, whose cost curves are illustrated in the above figure. The market equilibrium price in this perfectly competitive market equals $32 per lawn mowed. If Bill's average total cost curve is ATC, his total economic ________ equals ________.
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profit; $480 per week
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The cranberry market is perfectly competitive. Reports that consuming cranberries can lead to improved health result in a permanent increase in the demand for cranberries and an immediate upward jump in the price of cranberries. As time passes, the price of cranberries ________ and the initial firms' economic ________.
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falls; profit will be eliminated
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If a firm increases output when MR > MC, then:
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profit will increase.
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If, at the point where MR = MC, the firm incurs losses, in the short run the firm should:
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continue at its current output if P > AVC.
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If a perfectly competitive firm sells 50 units of output at a market price of $10 per unit, its marginal revenue is:
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$10.
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In the figure, the firm will not produce when the price is between:
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zero and P2.
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In the figure, if the price of the firm's product is $20 per unit, the firm will produce:
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60 units per day.
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In perfect competition, a firm maximizes profit by setting output such that price:
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Equals marginal cost
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In the long run, why would a firm in perfect competition exit the market?
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Because its sales revenue does not cover total cost
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A necessary condition for "perfect competition" is
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price takers.
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An example of a horizontal merger would be a merger between firms
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selling approximately the same products.
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monopoly has two key features, which are
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barriers to entry and no close substitutes.
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The marginal revenue curve for a single-price monopoly
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lies below the market demand curve.
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If the demand for its product is elastic, a monopoly's
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marginal revenue is positive.
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Monopolies can make an economic profit in the long run because of
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barriers to enter the monopoly's market.
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For the unregulated, single-price monopoly shown in the figure above, when its profit is maximized, output will be
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4 units per year and the price will be $6.
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A price searcher will earn economic profits as long as his price exceeds:
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average total cost.
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A monopolist can earn an economic profit only when:
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average total cost is less than price.
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The profit-maximizing output level for a price searcher is where the:
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MR = MC.
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When the price searcher is maximizing total profit in the figure, the average total cost of producing that output level is:
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$8.
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According to the information provided in the figure, if the Rudd Ice Company was a Price Searcher and is currently charging a price of $6, what would you advise Rudd to do?
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Increase price and decrease output.
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In the figure, at the profit-maximizing or loss-minimizing output, the monopolist's total economic profit is:
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negative.
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For a monopolist to practice price discrimination, one necessary condition is that the product offered for sale must be:
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impossible or difficult to resell.
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A monopolist currently sells 5 units of a good. If marginal revenue on the fifth unit of the good is $20, what must be true about the price of the good?
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Price must be more than $20
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For a monopoly, the marginal revenue curve:
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Is below the demand curve and has a steeper slope
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Utility companies that sell water must build a network of water pipes to every home in the community. Once the network has been built, the marginal cost of providing water is relatively low and constant. What is the source of monopoly power here?
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Enormous fixed/sunk cost
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Which of the following is NOT necessary for a firm to engage in price discrimination?
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The firm must produce output for different buyers at different costs.