Chapter 4 Public Finance Answers
Part 2 – Public Expenditure: Public Goods and Externalities
Chapter 4 – Public Goods
1.
a. Wilderness area is an impure public good – at some point, consumption becomes nonrival; it is, however, nonexcludable.
b. Satellite television is nonrival in consumption, although it is excludable; therefore it is an impure public good.
c. Medical school education is a private good.
d. Television signals are nonrival in consumption and not excludable (when broadcast over the air). Therefore, they are a public good.
e. An automatic teller machine is rival in consumption, at least at peak times. It is also excludable as only those patrons with ATM cards that are accepted by the machine can use the machine. Therefore the ATM is a private good.
2.
a. False. Efficient provision of a public good occurs at the level where total willingness to pay for an additional unit equals the marginal cost of producing the additional unit.
b. False. Due to the free rider problem, it is unlikely that a private business firm could profitably sell a product that is non-excludable. However, recent research reveals that the free rider problem is an empirical question and that we should not take the answer for granted. Public goods may be privately supported through volunteerism, such as when people who attend a fireworks display voluntarily contribute enough to pay for the show.
c. Uncertain. This statement is true if the road is not congested, but when there is heavy traffic, adding another vehicle can interfere with the drivers already using the road.
d. False. There will be more users in larger communities, but all users have access to the quantity that has been provided since the good is nonrival, so there is no reasons larger communities would necessarily have to provide a larger quantity of the nonrival good.
3. We assume that Cheetah’s utility does not enter the social welfare function; hence, her allocation of labor supply across activities does not matter.
Chapter 4 – Public Goods
1.
a. Wilderness area is an impure public good – at some point, consumption becomes nonrival; it is, however, nonexcludable.
b. Satellite television is nonrival in consumption, although it is excludable; therefore it is an impure public good.
c. Medical school education is a private good.
d. Television signals are nonrival in consumption and not excludable (when broadcast over the air). Therefore, they are a public good.
e. An automatic teller machine is rival in consumption, at least at peak times. It is also excludable as only those patrons with ATM cards that are accepted by the machine can use the machine. Therefore the ATM is a private good.
2.
a. False. Efficient provision of a public good occurs at the level where total willingness to pay for an additional unit equals the marginal cost of producing the additional unit.
b. False. Due to the free rider problem, it is unlikely that a private business firm could profitably sell a product that is non-excludable. However, recent research reveals that the free rider problem is an empirical question and that we should not take the answer for granted. Public goods may be privately supported through volunteerism, such as when people who attend a fireworks display voluntarily contribute enough to pay for the show.
c. Uncertain. This statement is true if the road is not congested, but when there is heavy traffic, adding another vehicle can interfere with the drivers already using the road.
d. False. There will be more users in larger communities, but all users have access to the quantity that has been provided since the good is nonrival, so there is no reasons larger communities would necessarily have to provide a larger quantity of the nonrival good.
3. We assume that Cheetah’s utility does not enter the social welfare function; hence, her allocation of labor supply across activities does not matter.