Public Goods Quiz

Question 1For successive units of a shared warning system, resident A’s marginal benefits are $9, $6, $2 and resident B’s are $7, $5, $1. Each unit costs $10. How many units pass the combined marginal-benefit test? Enter a whole-number count of units.

Enter a number in units.

Answers within 0.5 units of the expected value are accepted.

Question 2A shared barrier costs $7,200. Eight participants each pledge $650, and the remaining beneficiaries pledge nothing. Find the funding shortfall in dollars, rounded to the nearest cent.

Enter a number in dollars.

Answers within 0.005 dollars of the expected value are accepted.

Question 3A town runs a train with tickets and crowded carriages. What determines its economic category?

Its appearance in the municipal operating budgetRestrictions on access and depletion through useRecovery of driver wages through passenger faresCommuters’ approval of the service’s public purpose

Question 4An open fishery loses harvestable stock as boats catch fish. What separates it from a pure public good?

The resource exists outside a privately owned buildingPeople derive benefits from using the resourceTaking the resource reduces what remains for othersBoats must invest in equipment before taking part

Question 5A warning system is expensive to build but cheap to share with another listener. Which cost distinction matters?

Construction expenditure versus the system’s ownershipMoney paid today versus money that has no resource costThe installer’s profit versus the number of paying householdsInitial provision versus the cost of an extra user

Question 6Neighbors contribute to open research even though noncontributors use its findings. What explains positive contributions?

Contributors value the result or gain recognitionVoluntary funding removes the incentive to withhold paymentA useful result refunds each donor’s spending in fullNoncontributors are excluded by the definition of research

Question 7Encrypted access is added to a previously open broadcast. What property changes directly?

The public value of the topic covered by the programThe amount of information lost when a viewer watchesThe provider’s ability to block reception by nonmembersThe physical cost of producing the original program

Question 8Officials fund a shared project through taxation. Which evidence is needed to judge the chosen scale?

The benefits of added provision compared with its costsThe project’s appearance on an approved spending listThe number of officials who endorsed the announcementThe use of taxes rather than voluntary donations

Question 9An uncrowded members-only pool admits an extra swimmer without reducing anyone’s enjoyment. How is this benefit classified?

A rival common resource because members swim togetherA pure public good because admission has already been paidA rival private good because the pool has construction costsA club good because entry is restricted and use is uncrowded

Question 10A city buys lamps to illuminate open streets. Which part of the arrangement has the shared-consumption feature?

The lamp purchased from the equipment supplierThe visibility enjoyed by people passing throughThe electricity allocated to operating each lightThe technician’s time during each repair visit

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Public Goods Quiz

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