3. Many apartment-complex owners anre installing water meters for each individual apartment and billing the occupants according to the amount of water they use. This is in contrast to the former procedure of having a central meter for the entire complex and dividing up the water expense as part of the rent. Where individual meters have been installed, water usage has declined 10 to 40 percent Explain this drop, referring to price and marginal utility.

3. Many apartment-complex owners anre installing water meters for each individual apartment and billing the occupants according to the amount of water they use. This is in contrast to the former procedure of having a central meter for the entire complex and dividing up the water expense as part of the rent. Where individual meters have been installed, water usage has declined 10 to 40 percent Explain this drop, referring to price and marginal utility.

Microeconomic Theory

12th Edition

ISBN:9781337517942

Author:NICHOLSON

Publisher:NICHOLSON

Chapter4: Utility Maximization And Choice

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 4.2P

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Jeremy is deeply in love with Jasmine. Jasmine lives where cell phone coverage is poor, so he can either call her on the land-line phone for five cents per minute or he can drive to see her, at a roundâ€”trip cost of 2 in gasoline money. He has a total of 10 per week to spend on staying in touch. To make his preferred choice, Jeremy uses a handy utilimometer that measures his total utility from personal visits and from phone minutes. Using the values in Table 6.6, figure out the points 011 Jeremys consumption choice budget constraint (it may be helpful to do a sketch) and identify his utility-maximizing point.
Praxilla, who lived in ancient Greece, derives utility from reading poems and from eating cucumbers. Praxilla gets 30 units of marginal utility from her first poem 27 units of marginal utility from her second poem 24 units of marginal utility from her third poem, and so on, with marginal utility declining by three units for each additional poem. Praxilla gets six units of marginal utility for each of her next three cucumbers consumed, five units of marginal utility for each of her next three cucumbers consumed, four units of marginal utility for each of the following three cucumbers consumed, and so on, with marginal utility declining by one for every three cucumber consumed. A poem costs three bronze coins hut a cucumber costs only one bronze coin. Praxilla has 18 bronze coins. Sketch Praxillas budget set between poems and cucumbers, placing poems on the vertical axis and cucumbers on the horizontal axis. Start off with the choice of zero poems and 18 cucumbers, and calculate the changes in marginal utility of moving along the budget line to the next choice of one poem and 15 cucumbers. Using this step-by-step process based on marginal utility, create a table and identify Praxillas utilityâ€”maximizing choice. Compare the marginal utility of the two goods and the relative prices at the optimal choice to see if the expected relationship holds. Hint: Label the table columns: 1) Choice, 2} Marginal Gain from More Poems, 3) Marginal Loss from Fewer Cucumbers, 4) Overall Gain or Loss, 5) Is the previous choice Optimal? Label the table rows: 1) 0 Poems and 18 Cucumbers, 2) 1 Poem and 15 cucumbers, 3) 2 Poems and 12 cucumbers, 4) 3 Poems and 9 Cucumbers, 5) 4 Poems and 6 cucumbers 6) 5 Poems and 3 Cucumbers, 7) 6 Poems and 0 Cucumbers.
Take Jeremys total utility information in Exercise 6.1, and use the marginal utility approach to confirm the choice of phone minutes and round trips that maximize Jeremys utility.
4. Kay lives in a city where housing costs $1 per square foot. They have a monthly budget of$1,000, of which they decide to allocate $500 to rent a 500 sqft. apartment and spend teother $500 on consumption. A generous relative offers Kay a deal on a 400 sqft. apartmentfor only $200 per month, which they accept. What is the equivalent variation of this transferfor Kay, in dollars per month? (Select one)(a) More than $300: Kay gets utility from both consumption and the new apartment.(b) $300: That is how much more Kay can consume with the new cost of rent.(c) $250: That is how much less Kay’s old bundle would have cost at the new prices.(d) Between $0 and $250: Kay would substitute away from her old bundle at the new prices.(e) $200: That is the additional cost of Kay’s new bundle at the old prices.(f) Between $0 and $200: Kay may prefer to substitute away from her new bundle at theold prices.(g) $100: That is the differential cost of the new apartment at the old prices.(h) $0: The new…
A consumer finds only three products, X, Y, and Z, are for sale. The amount of utility which their consumption will yield is shown in the table below. Assume that the prices of X, Y, and Z are $10, $2, and $8, respectively, and that the consumer has an income of $74 to spend. Product X Product Y Product Z Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ 1 42 NA 1 14 NA 1 32 NA 2 82 4 2 26 6 2 60 3.5 3 118 3.6 3 36 5 3 84 3 4 148 3 4 44 4 4 100 2 5 170 2.2 5 50 3 5 110 1.25 6 182 1.2 6 54 2 6 116 0.75 7 182 _0 7 56.4 _1.2 7 120 _0.5_ Why would the consumer not be maximizing utility by purchasing 2 units of X, 4 units of Y, and 1 unit of Z?
A consumer finds only three products, X, Y, and Z, are for sale. The amount of utility which their consumption will yield is shown in the table below. Assume that the prices of X, Y, and Z are $10, $2, and $8, respectively, and that the consumer has an income of $74 to spend. Product X Product Y Product Z Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ Quantity Utility Marginal Utility per $ 1 42 NA 1 14 NA 1 32 ___NA__ 2 82 4 2 26 6 2 60 __3.5_ 3 118 3.6 3 36 5 3 84 __3___ 4 148 3 4 44 4 4 100 __2___ 5 170 2.2 5 50 3 5 110 _1.25___ 6 182 1.2 6 54 2 6 116 _0.75__ 7 182 0 7 56.4 1.2 7 120 _0.5_ How many units of X, Y, and Z will the consumer buy when maximizing utility and spending all…
Sanjay won a poker game against his friends. Now he has to choose between $600 (the winnings) and the chance to play a new game. In this new game, Sanjay has a 50% chance of winning nothing and a 50% chance of winning $1000. The following graph presents the utility function of Sanjay with respect to money: 1. By how much money would his winnings need to increase or decrease so that Sanjay isindifferent between the $600 and the new game? At a different table, Juan wins $800 in a blackjack game. Similarly, he has to choose between $800 or the chance to win a new game. In this game, Juan has a 45% chance of winning nothing and a 55% chance of winning $1000. The following graph presents the utility function of Juan with respect to money: 2. By how much money would his winnings need to increase or decrease so that Juan is indifferent between the $800 and the new game? Please enter a positive number for an increase or a negative number for a decrease.
Mats, who has reference-dependent preferences over beer and money, goes to the local pub with a friend, but is not planning on drinking any beer or spending any of his 50 Euro in cash. Let his end-of-evening outcomes in pints of beer consumed and cash be c1 and c2, respectively, and let his reference point in pints of beer and cash be r1 and r2, respectively. Then, Mats’ utility is given by v(6c1 − 6r1) + v(c2 − r2), where v(x) = x for x ≥ 0, and v(x) = 1.5x for x < 0. (a) Suppose that the price of beer is pB. Calculate Mats’ utility from drinking one pint of beer at this price. What is Mats’ utility from drinking no beer? And, comparing these two utility values, what is the maximum price pB that Mats would pay for one beer? (b) Suppose that Mats unexpectedly gets a pint of beer as part of a promotion at the pub, and incorporates its consumption into his reference point in beer. [Hint: this means that (r1, r2) = (1, 50).] Suppose that Mats could sell the beer at a price pS.…
Michelle has $7 to spend on makeup and clothes and wants to maximize her utility on her purchase. Based on the data in the table, how much makeup and clothes should Michelle purchase to maximize her utility. Show all working Makeup= $1 Clothes = $0.50Quantity Total Utility Quantity Total Utility1 28 1 122 52 2 223 72 3 304 88 4 365 100 5 406 108 6 427 112 7 428 112 8 40
Praxilla, who lived in ancient Greece, derivesutility from reading poems and from eating cucumbers.Praxilla gets 30 units of marginal utility from her firstpoem, 27 units of marginal utility from her secondpoem, 24 units of marginal utility from her third poem,and so on, with marginal utility declining by three unitsfor each additional poem. Praxilla gets six units ofmarginal utility for each of her first three cucumbersconsumed, five units of marginal utility for each of hernext three cucumbers consumed, four units of marginalutility for each of the following three cucumbersconsumed, and so on, with marginal utility declining byone for every three cucumbers consumed. A poem coststhree bronze coins but a cucumber costs only one bronzecoin. Praxilla has 18 bronze coins. Sketch Praxilla’sbudget set between poems and cucumbers, placingpoems on the vertical axis and cucumbers on thehorizontal axis. Start off with the choice of zero poemsand 18 cucumbers, and calculate the changes in…
Mylie’s total utility from singing the same song over andover is 50 utils after one repetition, 90 utils after tworepetitions, 70 utils after three repetitions, 20 utils afterfour repetitions, 250 utils after five repetitions, and 2200utils after six repetitions. Write down her marginal utilityfor each repetition. Once Mylie’s total utility beginsto decrease, does each additional singing of the songhurt more than the previous one or less than the previousone?
4. Show how to construct the reference dependent utility function for two friends Kate and Mary whose gains and losses are listed as follows : Kate's net worth is $ 4.5 million ( decreased from $ 5.5 to $ 4.5 million ) Mary's net worth $ 3.2 million ( increased from $ 3 to $ 3.2 million ) ( First determine the reference point ( use a parameter ) and then derive reference utility function for each ) .