Exam 12: The Economics of Information

Suppose someone offers Max the following gamble: with probability 0.50 he will win $10 and with probability 0.50 he will lose $8. The expected value of this gamble is:

Insurance companies practice statistical discrimination because:

There are two employers in Bucolic that hire people who do not have a high school degree: a grocery store and a hardware store. The grocery store pays $10 per hour and the hardware store pays $12 per hour. People who work at either store can work as many hours as they want at those wages. Assume that it takes two hours to interview for a job. Lee works at the grocery store, but would like to work at the hardware store. If Lee interviews at the hardware store, there is a 10 percent probability of being hired. Assume that Lee is risk-neutral. What is Lee's expected hourly benefit from interviewing at the hardware store?

It is spring, and several graduates of State U are seeking employment. State U graduates have evenly distributed GPAs, from 2.0 to 4.0, with an average GPA of 3.0. The largest employer in town, Acme Dynamite, is interviewing candidates, hoping to hire a few hard workers. While Acme does not require students to submit a transcript with their applications, the hiring officer believes that high GPAs signal a willingness to work hard. Jordan is a recent graduate and is applying for a job with Acme. Jordan's GPA is 3.3. Should Jordan include a transcript with her job application?

A warranty on a used car is a credible signal of quality because:

In the presence of the free-rider problem, the market will provide ________ of a good or service.

According to the theory of disappearing political discourse, politicians remain silent about issues because politicians:

Curly is offered the following gamble: a 25 percent chance of winning $1,500 and a 75 percent chance of losing $500. This is a(n):

Pat goes to the local electronics store to learn about high-end audio equipment. The salesperson spends an hour talking with Pat and demonstrating equipment. Pat then leaves and orders an audio system on the Internet for $250 less than the price at the store. Pat's behavior:

Rationally, search should continue until:

Consider the gamble inherent in looking for an apartment. If the expected value of going to see another apartment is zero, then

It is spring, and several graduates of State U are seeking employment. State U graduates have evenly distributed GPAs, from 2.0 to 4.0, with an average GPA of 3.0. The largest employer in town, Acme Dynamite, is interviewing candidates, hoping to hire a few hard workers. While Acme does not require students to submit a transcript with their applications, the hiring officer believes that high GPAs signal a willingness to work hard. Acme has received applications from 10 graduates of State U. Five included transcripts, all of which indicated GPAs of 3.0 or better. Acme will most likely infer that the five graduates who did not include transcripts:

Better information about consumers' reservation prices generally leads to:

Mel is thinking of going on a cruise. Mel values a cruise in nice weather at $2,000 and values a cruise in bad weather at $50. The probability of nice weather is 60 percent and the probability of bad weather is 40 percent. Trip insurance is sometimes available. If purchased, it allows travelers to delay the cruise until the weather is nice. Suppose that the price of the cruise is $1,200. If Mel is risk-neutral, then Mel should:

Suppose Joe has a reliable two-year old Honda Civic that's in excellent condition and that he would be willing to sell for $13,000. Lauren, who is risk-neutral, is considering whether to buy Joe's car. She's willing to pay $14,000 for a two-year Honda Civic that is reliable and only $10,000 for one that's not reliable. Lauren cannot tell whether Joe's car is reliable, but she believes that only 20 percent of two-year old Hondas for sale in the market are reliable and that the other 80 percent are not reliable. Will Lauren buy Joe's car?

Suppose that the salary range for recent college graduates with a bachelor's degree in economics is $30,000 to $50,000, with 25 percent of jobs offering $30,000 per year, 50 percent offering $40,000 per year and 25 percent offering $50,000 per year and that in all other respects, the jobs are equally satisfying. Assume that in this market, a job offer remains open for only a short time so that continuing to search requires an applicant to reject any current job offer. Who will accept an offer of $30,000?

Grace and Will are moving to LA at the same time and both wish to find apartments to rent. Grace is staying with her aunt for free while Will is paying to stay at a motel. If their search costs are otherwise identical, one can predict that:

According to the textbook, expensive advertising campaigns are:

Alex, who is risk-neutral, is looking for a one-bedroom apartment to rent for the month of August while he's on vacation in Seattle. All of the one-bedroom apartments in the neighborhood where he wants to stay are of equal quality, but 70 percent rent for $700 per month, 20 percent rent for $600 per month, and 10 percent rent for $500 per month. The first apartment Alex finds rents for $700 per month. If the cost to Alex of searching for an apartment is $30, then searching for another apartment is a gamble with an expected value of:

The existence of long term leases agreements in rental markets: