ECON 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Economic Surplus, Economic Equilibrium, Equilibrium Point

Under a binding price ceiling, what does the change in consumer surplus represent?
A) The gain in surplus for those buyers who can still purchase the product at the lower price.
B) The loss in surplus for those buyers who previously purchased some units of the good at the higher price, but these units are no longer produced at the lower price.
C) The loss in surplus for those buyers who would like the purchase the excess demand created by the price ceiling policy.
D) Both A and B are correct.
E) Both A and C are correct.

When the market price is held above the competitive level, the deadweight loss is composed of:

A) producer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.

B) consumer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.
C) producer and consumer surplus losses associated with units that used to be traded on the market but are no longer exchanged.
D) There is no deadweight loss if the government uses a price floor policy to increase the price.

Compared to a tariff, an import quota, which restricts imports to the same amount as the tariff, will leave the country as a whole
A) worse off than a comparable tariff.
B) not as bad off as a comparable tariff.

C) about the same as a comparable tariff.

D) Any of the above can be true.

What is the welfare impact of a subsidy policy?
A) Producer surplus increases, consumer surplus declines, and total welfare declines.
B) Producer and consumer surplus increase, and these gains are larger than the government cost.

C) Producer and consumer surplus increase, and these gains are smaller than the government cost.

D) Producer surplus increases, consumer surplus declines, and total welfare increases due to the subsidy program.

Why is there a deadweight loss associated with subsidy payments?
A) There is no deadweight loss from a subsidy.
B) Quantity supplied is less than the equilibrium amount, so consumers and producers lose surplus value on those units that are no longer produced.
C) Quantity supplied exceeds the equilibrium amount, and consumer willingness to pay for these additional units is smaller than the marginal cost of producing them.
D) The subsidy payment does not distort quantities in the market, but the government cost exceeds consumer willingness to pay for the quantity demanded.

Purpose of Assignment

In Week 2, students will employ the supply and demand model to develop consumer surplus and producer surplus as a measure of welfare and market efficiency. Students learn about welfare economics--the study of how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being--and will discover that under most circumstances, the equilibrium price and quantity is also the one that maximizes welfare. Students will review different sources of externalities and a variety of potential cures and will see that while markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity, governments can sometimes improve market outcomes. Students will see how the U.S. government raises and spends money and the difficulty of making a tax system both efficient and equitable.

Assignment Steps

Scenario: Imagine you have been assigned the responsibility of preparing a paper for the governor's next economic conference.

Prepare a 1,050-word paper addressing the following:

Explain why equilibrium of supply and demand is desirable.

Explain the following concepts using the concept of consumer and producer surplus:

Efficiency of markets

Costs of taxation

Benefits of international trade

Discuss how externalities may prevent market equilibrium and the various government policies used to remedy the inefficiencies in markets caused by externalities.

Analyze the difference between the efficiency of a tax system and the equity of a tax system as it refers to the costs imposed on taxpayers using the benefits principles.

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources, not including your textbook.

Format consistent with APA guidelines.

PLEASE ANSWER EACH QUESTION WITH A, B, C, and D. NOT ANSWERING ALL QUESTIONS OR INCORRECT ANSWERS WILL RESULT IN A THUMBS DOWN.

Question 1: Which of the following is not needed for price discrimination to be possible?

Question 2: Relative to standard monopoly pricing, first-degree price discrimination results in:

Question 3: Relative to perfect competition, first-degree price discrimination results in:

Question 4: If market demand is P = 100 - Q and the firm has a constant marginal cost of 20, then with first-degree price discrimination, the firm's producer surplus will be:

Question 5: For third-degree discrimination to be possible, which of the following features is not required?

Question 6: A golf course has frequent players whose demand is Q_f = 260 - 0.4P and infrequent players whose demand is Q_i = 10 - 0.1P. The combined market demand is Q = 34 - 0.4P. The marginal cost and average total cost of providing a round of golf are $20. How much higher will the profit be if the golf course uses third-degree price discrimination instead of charging all golfers the same price?

Question 7: An airline sells seats on its flights to business travelers whose demand is Q_B = 300 - P and vacation travelers whose demand is Q_V = 150 - 0.5P. The combined market demand is Q = 450 - 1.5P. The marginal cost and average total cost of providing a seat on a flight are $200. How much higher will profit be if the airline uses third-degree price discrimination instead of charging all travelers the same price?

Question 8: If a firm practices third-degree price discrimination, the price charged should be higher in the market where demand is:

Question 9: The key difference between markets where third-degree price discrimination is possible and markets where second-degree price discrimination is possible is whether:

Question 10: For price discrimination via a quantity discount to work:

Question 11: A firm wants to offer a quantity discount to price-discriminate between buyers who are relatively uninterested in the product and buyers who are obsessively interested in it. The uninterested customers have a demand of Q_U = 30 - 0.5P. The package offered to them contains 10 units of the good at a price of $40 each. Which of the following packages designed for obsessed customers is incentive compatible?

Question 12: Which of the following conditions do not have to be met in order for indirect price discrimination by versioning to work?

QUESTION 13
This table shows the willingness to pay off the only three potential customers of a firm that runs both a weight room and an indoor swimming pool. The weight room and pool each have a constant marginal cost of $20 per month. Which of the following pricing strategies yields the highest producer surplus?

Question 14: Which of the following features is needed to make bundling a possible price discrimination strategy but is not required for any other price discrimination strategies?

Question 15: Which of the following features is not needed for price discrimination using a two-part tariff to work?

Question 16: A firm faces a market demand curve P = 50 - 5Q. It has a constant marginal cost of $10. Relative to standard monopoly pricing, how would a block pricing strategy where the first four units can be purchased for a price of $30 each, but two more units can be purchased for an additional $20 each change consumer surplus and producer surplus?

Question 17: Relative to standard monopoly pricing, block pricing:

Question 18: Which of the following results in the highest amount of producer surplus?

Question 19: Which of the following results in the highest amount of consumer surplus?

Question 20: Which of the following results in the highest amount of total surplus?