Chapter 5: Q. 5.2 (page 100)
Distinguish between private goods and public goods and explain the nature of the free-rider problem.
Private are owned and public goods are for all.
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Based on your answer to Question 5-17, if Pennsylvania's government aims to correct the steel market's negative externality via an effluent fee, is the appropriate fee higher or lower now than steel producers have adopted the new technique? Why or why not?
Explain how market failures such as externalities might justify economic functions of the government.
Suppose the panel (a) of the figure applies to Pennsylvania's steel market. Suppose that steel manufacturer in this state adopts a new technique for producing steel that entails a smaller external cost. In the absence of any government action to correct the negative externality from steel production, would the overallocation of resources to steel production in Pennslyvania be larger or smaller following the adoption of the next steel-manufacturing technique?
Suppose that, as part of an expansion of its State Care health system, a state government decides to offer a \(50 subsidy to all people who, according to their physicians, should have their own blood pressure monitoring devices. Prior to this governmental decision, the market-clearing price of blood pressure monitors in this state was \)50, and the equilibrium quantity purchased was 20,000 per year.
(a) After the government expands its State Care plan, people in this state desire to purchase 40,000 devices each year. Manufacturers of blood pressure monitors are willing to provide 40,000 devices at a price of $60 per device. What out-of-pocket price does each consumer pay for a blood pressure monitor?
(b) What is the dollar amount of the increase in total expenditures on blood pressure monitors in this state following the expansion of the State Care program?
(c) Following the expansion of the State Care program, what percentage of total expenditures on blood pressure monitors are paid by the government? What percentage of total expenditures is paid by consumers of these devices?
A government agency is contemplating launching an effort to expand the scope of its activities. One rationale for doing so is that another government agency might make the same effort and, if successful, receive larger budget allocations in future years. Another rationale for expanding the agency’s activities is that this will make the jobs of its workers more interesting, which may help the government agency attract better-qualified employees. Nevertheless, to broaden its legal mandate, the agency will have to convince more than half of the House of Representatives and the Senate to approve a formal proposal to expand its activities. In addition, to expand its activities, the agency must have the authority to force private companies it does not currently regulate to be officially licensed by agency personnel. Identify which aspects of this problem are similar to those faced by firms that operate in private markets and which aspects are specific to the public sector.
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