utility questions

2012 May/ June section B
2. when buying goods not everyone buys the same stranded product. There are some who want a cheap product even though it might be of poor quality, while there is those willing to pay more for a luxury or an individually-made product. Customers search for value but value is not just in the price
(a) Explain the theoretical link between utility, price and the demand for a product. [12]
(b) Discuss whether the economic analysis of a rational consumer estimating demand based at value (utility) is valid not only for standard products but also for poor quality and luxury products [13]
2011 October /November section B
2. (a). explain the link between a consumer’s expenditure and the Equi-marginal principle of utility [12]
(b). analyses what is meant by economic efficiency and asses weather efficiency is always achieved in a market. [13]
2011 May/ June section B
3. (a). Discuss weather demand schedules and budget line diagrams are similar in the way they represent the effect of
1. a rise in the price of a good
2. a rise in a consumer’s income. [13]
2010 October /November section B
In 2009 there were huge fires in Australia which destroyed much property and countryside. The government promised to allocate a large amount of money and resources to help with the restoration of the area.
(a). with the help of diagrams explain what is meant by efficiency in the use of resources [12]
(b).discuss the economic implications of the government approach to the situation. [13]
2010 May/ June section B
5.economic theory emphasizes the idia of an equilibrium position.discuss weather the idia of an equilibrium is a usefull and practical way of explaining the behaviour of a consumer. [25]

2009 October /November section A
Environmentalist believe that the packaging, transportation and disposal of bottled water products create unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions. It has been proposed that the government should introduce taxes to pay for the damage to the environment, either directly on sales of each bottle of water or on the disposal of plastic bottle.
Spokesperson for the bottled water industry said that critics were forgetting that the industry generated income and that an estimated 20000 jobs depend on the sales of bottle water in 2007 annual sales in the UK were worth 2 billion pounds.
*briefly explain how a rational consumer’s equilibrium maybe achieved using marginal utility theory. [4]
*use the article to consider whether consumers who purchased bottled water are acting rationally and maximizing their satisfaction. [4]
2009 May/ June section

2008 October /November section

2008 May/ June section B
The government in Namibia stated that electricity prices should cover cost and should also bee based on the principal of allocative efficiency
Discuss weather this approach to pricing can be supported in theory. [25]

2007 October/November section B
We do not ask consumers what they want. They don’t know. We decide what they will need and will want.’ Akio Morita, founder of Sony Electronics Company.
(a)explain how, according to utility theory ,consumers allocate their expenditure between different products and price change. [12]
(b)Discuss weather markets are dominated more by the producer or the customer [13]
2007 May/June section B
2.a explain what is meant by productive and allocative efficiency [12]
b. the diction to privatize Kenya railways and Uganda railways has met with interest among international rail operators as it is thought that profits could be made and current commercial losses could be avoided discuss how the privatization of an industry might affect efficiency in the allocation of resources . [13]
2006 October /November section B
2a) explain what is meant by the term ‘economic efficiency ‘.[10]
b) does the price mechanisms allocate scares resource efficiency ? [15]
3.my higher income will make me happier in the short run. In the long run I will become accustomed to it and my happiness would return to its previous level. There is no point ,therefore ,in earning higher income.
a) explain the law of diminishing marginal utility and discuss whether it supports the idea that higher incomes increase happiness. [12]
b) discuss how governments might achieve a more equal distribution of income.[13]
2006 May/June section B
3. the gain in happiness when someone gets an extra dollar is much smaller when the person is rich than if they are poor.so money transferred from rich to poor raises total happiness and governments should seak to make such transfers.
a) Explain what is meant by the law of diminishing marginal utility and consider weather the statement above is a correct application of it. 12]
b. discuss what policies a government might use in order to decrease poverty in its country . [13]