平狄克微观经济学第六版第十四章课后答案(6)

平狄克微观经济学第六版课后答案

b. The president of an ailing savings and loan is paid not to stay in his job for the last

two years of his contract.

The marginal revenue product of the president of the ailing savings and loan is likely to

be negative and therefore, the savings and loan is better off by paying the president not

to show up. They have calculated that they will lose less (or gain more) by paying the

president off and hiring someone else.

c. A jumbo jet carrying 400 passengers is priced higher than a 250-passenger model

even though both aircraft cost the same to manufacture.

The ability of the larger jet to generate more revenue increases its value to the airline,

and therefore the airline is willing to pay more for it.

4. The demands for the factors of production listed below have increased. What can you conclude about changes in the demand for the related consumer goods? If demands for the consumer goods remain unchanged, what other explanation is there for an increase in derived demands for these items?

a. Computer memory chips

In general, an increase in the demand for a good increases the demand for its factor

inputs. The converse is not necessarily true; i.e., an increase in the demand for factor

inputs does not necessarily imply an increase in the demand for the final product. The

demand for an input may increase due to a change in the use of other inputs in the

production process. As the price of another input increases, its demand falls and the

demand of substitutable inputs rises. In this case, the increase in the demand for

computer memory chips must have been caused by an increase in the demand for

personal computers given that computer memory chips are used only in computers, and

there are no substitutes for computer memory chips.

b. Jet fuel for passenger planes

With an increase in the demand for jet travel, the demand for jet fuel will increase.

There are no substitutes for jet fuel.

c. Paper used for newsprint

Given the paper is being used to print newspapers then there must have been an

increase in the circulation of newspapers.

d. Aluminum used for beverage cans

With an increase in demand for cold drinks in the summer, the seasonal demand for

aluminum increases, so this is one possible explanation. Alternatively, if glass or

plastic have become more expensive then this may affect the demand for aluminum.

Finally, changes in the market for recycled aluminum may affect the demand for new

aluminum.

5. Suppose there are two groups of workers, unionized and nonunionized. Congress passes a law that requires all workers to join the union. What do you expect to happen to the wage rates of formerly nonunionized workers? of those workers who were originally unionized? What have you assumed about the union’s behavior?

In general, we expect that nonunionized workers are earning lower wages than

unionized workers. If all workers are forced to join the union, it would be reasonable

to expect that the nonunionized workers will now receive higher wages and the

unionized workers will receive a wage that could go either way. There are a couple of

items to consider. First, the union now has more monopoly power in that there are no

nonunion workers to act as substitutes for union workers. This gives more power to

the union, which means higher wages can in general be negotiated. However, the union

now has more members to satisfy. If wages are kept at a high level, there will be fewer

jobs, and hence some previously nonunionized workers may end up with no job. The

union may wish to trade off some of the wage for a guarantee of more jobs. The