公共经济学考试习题答案 -2023修改整理

千里之行，始于足下让知识带有温度。第第2页/共2页精品文档推荐公共经济学考试习题答案Chapter1

Exercise1.6

Whatrestrictsthepoliciesthatagovernmentcanchoose?Arethereanyargumentsforimposingadditionalrestrictions?

Solution1.6

Therearenumerousissuesthatcanberaisedinansweringthisquestion.Oneresponsethatmaynotbeobviousistointroducetheroleofinformation.Limitedinformationmakessomepoliciesinfeasible.Forexample,incomefromemploymentcanbeobservedwithareasonabledegreeofaccuracy.Incontrastwealthismuchhardertoobserveandmeasure.Thereforeincomeistaxedinmanycountrieswhereaswealthisnot(theexceptiontothisareestatedutiesleviedafterdeath).Therangeofotherissuesthatcanbeintroducedinclude:theneedtomaintainbudgetbalance;theneedtomaintaintradebalance;avoidanceofinflation;preventionofexcessiveemigrationorimmigration.Additionalrestrictionsmayalsobeneededtolimittheincentivesforevasionthatareintroducedortoensurethatcorruptionisnotpermittedtobecomeendemic.

Exercise1.7

“Physicsisasimplerdisciplinethaneconomics.Thisisbecausetheobjects

ofitsstudyareboundbyphysicallaws.”Doyouagree?

Solution1.7

Whatdistinguisheseconomicagentsfromphysicalentitiesisthattheagents

makedecisions.Theyobservetheirenvironmentandmakeindividualchoices

abouthowtobehave.Somechoicesmaybepredictablethroughtheapplication

ofrationalchoicetheory.Otherchoicesmaybegovernedbytraditionorcustom,

ortheymaysimplyberandomorill-judged.Inanycaseitisnotpossibleto

predictthechoiceofaneconomicagentwithoutunderstandingtheirpreferences

andtheconstraintstheyperceive.Physicalentitiesrespondinpredictableways

toexternalstimuli—ifweleaveasidethefactthatsub-atomicparticleshave

beenrepresentedsuccessfullybyprobabilisticmodels.Economicsmaynotbe

harderbutthefreedomofitsagentstomakechoicesensuresitismoredifficult

tomakecorrectpredictionsabouteconomicoutcomes.Anothercrucialdistinction

betweenphysicsandeconomicsisverifiabilityoftheoreticalmodelusing

anexperiment.Inaphysicallaboratorythebehavioroftheobjectsintheexperiment

isnotdifferentfromtheirbehaviorinthenaturalenvironment.Inan

economiclaboratorytheindividualsareawareofparticipatinginanexperiment

and,therefore,arelikelytobehavedifferently,i.e.,makedifferentchoicesand

decisions,tryingtoguess“whatisthegamebehindthegame”.Thismakesit

difficulttomatchtheoutcomeoftheexperimentwiththeeconomicactivityin

therealenvironment.Finally,inphysicstheparametersinthemodelsalmost

alwayscanbemeasured,directlyorindirectly,withasufficientlyhighdegree

ofprecision.Ineconomicsmanyparametersandvariablescannotbemeasured

directlyandoftenproxiesareusedinstead.Thismakespredictionineconomics

moredifficultandlessprecisethaninphysics.

Exercise1.13

Chapter2

Chapter3

Exercise3.3

Whymayexpendituredataunderestimatetheinfluenceofthepublicsector

upontheeconomy?

Solution3.3

Theexpendituredatameasuresthedirecteffectthatthegovernmenthas

uponeconomicactivity.Thisisonlypartofthetotalconsequenceofgovernment.Theindirecteffectofgovernmentisfeltthroughthepublicsector

companiesthatitcontrolsandthroughtheregulationsthatitimposesuponeconomicactivity.Theeconomicconsequencesoftheseindirecteffectscanonlybeassessedbycontrastingtheeconomicoutcomeintheirpresencetowhattheoutcomewouldbeiftheywereabsent.

Exercise3.9

Whyisincometaxedratherthanwealth?

Solution3.9

Thisquestionpreviewsatopicthatarisesrepeatedlythroughthebook.The

answerrevolvesaroundtheissueofinformation.Incomeisaflowthatthegovernmentcanobservewithoutdifficultyformuchofthepopulation.Inparticular,

thegovernmentcanrelyonemployerstoreportinformationonincomesofemployees.Itmaybemoredifficulttoobservetheincomesoftheselfemployed

butauditingbytherevenueservicecanprovideincentivesfortruthfulreports.Wealthisastockwhichisheldinawidevarietyofdiverseforms.Amonetary

valuecanbeplaceddirectlyonsomeformsofwealthsuchasbankdepositsandshareholdings.Otherforms,suchashousing,canbevaluedbutwithagreaterdegreeofuncertainty.Therearefurtherforms,suchasworksofartandjewelry,

thatareevenmoredifficulttovalue.Furthermore,manyofthenon-financial

formsofwealthcanbeeasilyhiddenfromtherevenueservice.Thisintroduces

thetwoinformationproblemsinvolvedinthetaxationofwealth:valuationanddiscovery.Evenifwealthcouldbemeasuredthereisafurtherproblemintaxation.Thereisnoguaranteethatthosewhoholdwealthhaveliquidassetswith

whichtopayataxbill.Forexamplearetiredpersonlivinginalargehouse

mayhavesubstantialilliquidwealthbutlittleliquidwealth.Forcingthesaleof

thehousetofinancethetaxbillwouldraisethecostsimposedbythetax.

Chapter4

Exercise4.6

Wouldaminimalstate:

(a)Ensurewageagreementswereenforced?

(b)Limitmaximumworkinghours?

(c)Preventinvoluntaryovertime?

Solution4.6

(a)Yes.Aminimalstatewouldensurethatallcontracts,includingthe

wageagreementsbetweencontractingparties,wereenforced.Howeveraminimalstatewouldnotenforceaminimumwageagreement.Aminimumwage

agreementplacesalimitontheactionsofcontractingparties.Itcanthereforedamageeconomicefficiencybypreventingmutuallyadvantageoustrades.

(b)No.Providingthenumberofworkinghourswasdeterminedbyagreementbetweenafirmanditsworkerstheminimalstatewouldnotintervene.

(c)Yes.Thewordinvoluntaryimpliesthattheworkerhasnotwillingly

contractedtoworkovertime.Thefirmimposingovertimedoessoinbreachof

acontractsotheminimalstatewillpreventtheovertime.

Exercise4.9

Alloursulphuremissionsareblownintoaneighboringcountry.Canour

economybeefficient?

Solution4.9

Takingwhathappensintheoutsideworldas“given”oureconomycanbeinanefficientposition.Thefactthattheemissionsareblownintoaneighboring

countrymeansthatthesocialcostofoutactionsfallsuponthatcountry.Within

ourcountryprivatecostsshouldstillbeequatedtoprivatebenefitsforefficiency.

Howeverwhathappensintherestoftheworldisnotgiven,butisaffectedby

ourdischargeofsulphuremissions.Iftheentireworldeconomyisconsidered

therewillnotbeefficiency.Wewillignorethesocialcostoftheemissionsand

hencehaveproducedexcessivepollution.

Exercise4.10

Arethefollowingpoliciesconductedforefficiencyorequitymotives:

(a)Provisionofunemploymentbenefits?

(b)Provisionofprimaryeducation?

(c)Provisionofhighereducation?

(d)Provisionofretirementpensions?

(e)Prohibitingsmokinginpublicplaces?

(f)Imposinghighermarginalincometaxratesonpeoplewithhigherincomes?

Inthecaseofefficiencymotives,discussthetypeofmarketfailureinvolved.

Solution4.10

(a)Theprovisionofunemploymentbenefitisusuallyseenasundertakenfor

equitymotives.Thosewhoaresimplyunluckytofindthemselvesunemployed

receivebenefitasaninsurancepaymentintheeventofthisbadstate.Thisis

redistributionfromthelucky(theemployed)totheunlucky(unemployed).Itis

oftenarguedthatunemploymentbenefitsareasourceofinefficiencysincethey

makeworkrelativelylessattractiveanddistortthechoicebetweenworkand

leisure.

(b)Educationcanbeprovided