ECO 550 WEEK 2 CHAPTER 1 & 2 QUIZ 1

Question 1

1. 1. When multiple facts about a sample set are known, a(n) _____ heuristic makes the choice on the basis of the first category of facts in which the samples differ.

elimination

representative

recognition

availability

Question 2

1. 1. Which of the following products can be sold through mass advertising?

A new electrocardiogram machine to be used by medical examiners

A mainframe computer installation

A new health insurance policy

A new brand of baby diapers

Question 3

1. 1. A model of choice in economics starts by assuming that:

people try to minimize their losses.

people try to maximize their consumption.

people try to minimize their costs.

people try to maximize their utility.

Question 4

1. 1. _____ is an online venue where businesses and individuals can hedge their uncertainty about whether legislation that affects them will be enacted.

The American Civics Exchange

Tradesports

The Iowa Electronic Markets

The Gallup and Roper surveys

Question 5

1. 1. _____ have the ability to recognize constraints and may choose to incur the costs of altering them.

Economists

Rational people

Entrepreneurs

Research groups

Question 6

1. 1. Assume that a cargo ship carrying the merchandise of a cloth merchant has been wrecked. Such a setback will be accounted as the merchant’s:

sunk cost.

deadweight loss.

marginal cost.

opportunity cost.

Question 7

1. 1. Publicly available data on production costs and box office revenues reflect that:

R-rated movies on an average collect higher revenues than G-rated movies.

revenue collected by PG-rated movies donot cover the production and distribution costs.

G-rates movies help investors to make artistic or polictical statements.

family-rated movies are on average profitable.

Question 8

1. 1. The different methods by which the sellers inform their potential buyers about the product is called:

knowledge transfer.

advertising.

product offering.

information dissemination.

Question 9

1. 1. The math and graphics used in economics help us better understand the logic of:

verbal reasoning.

rational choice.

hypothesis testing.

business forecasting.

Question 10

1. 1. The assumption of rationality in economics implies that:

people perfectly understand their own preferences.

people can overcome economic obstacles in the best possible way.

people can make accurate calculations and they have a perfect foresight.

people make choices with an eye toward attaining objectives they have chosen.

Question 11

1. 1. Which of the following is a root cause behind competition inherent in every society?

Unlimited wants of the people

People’s desire to acquire goods and services for free

Scarcity of goods and services

Genetic makeup of people

Question 12

1. 1. The costs which can be avoided if we alter our decisions or choices are referred to as:

average costs.

opportunity costs.

marginal costs.

sunk costs.

Question 13

1. 1. When a researcher evaluates the probability of an event by looking at how representative the sample is of the population of interest instead of the entire population, he is using:

an elimination heuristic.

an availability heuristic.

a representative heuristic.

a recognition heuristic.

Question 14

1. 1. Utility is a(n) _____ measure of wellbeing of a person.

objective

subjective

ordinal

cardinal

Question 15

1. 1. Since people’s incomes are limited and their abilities to borrow differ they face _____ constraints.

psychological

financial

societal

contractual

Question 16

1. 2. Which of the following is an example of market governance?

A firm vertically integrating backward to own the necessary inputs

A firm entering into a contract with input suppliers.

A school recruiting a part-time teacher to cover for a permanent employee who falls very ill.

A school requesting its permanent employees to cover for a teacher who suddenly falls ill.

Question 17

1. 2. The economic value which can be created by a transaction between two people, Ed (seller) and Luis (buyer), is $50 as Ed’s opportunity cost of selling is $135 and Luis’ valuation of the good is $185. If each gains $25 from this transaction, which of the following conclusions can be drawn?

Transaction costs are zero.

Luis has higher bargaining power than Ed.

Ed has higher bargaining power than Luis.

Transaction costs are positive.

Question 18

1. 2. In the example of Ireland described in the text, the country’s production set shifted outward over time because:

of technological advancements which improved its potato cultivation and overall agricultural production.

it gained new resources over time which enabled it to specialize and gain comparative advantage in software trade with the U.S. and Europe.

of new resources which allowed it to gain absolute advantage over many of its trading partners.

of reduction in trade barriers with the European Union.

Question 19

1. 2. When the slope of a country’s production set declines, it implies:Answer

the production set has shrunk.

the marginal cost of producing the good measured on the Y-axis has fallen.

the marginal cost of producing the good measured on the Y-axis has increased.

the marginal cost of producing the good measured on the X-axis has fallen.

Question 20

1. 2. _____ determine the efficient pattern of specialization in production.Answer

Total costs

Opportunity costs

Marginal costs

Sunk costs

Question 21

1. 2. Megan, an analyst in Ronald’s team called in sick on a day when 4 projects were due for completion. Ronald divided Megan’s work between the remaining six team-members. Which form of governance is being used here?

Etiquette

Hierarchy

Contract

Market

Question 22

1. 2. Prices play a smaller role in _____, in contrast to other modes of governance like _____ and _____.

hierarchies; markets; contracts

contracts; hierarchies; markets

markets; hierarchies; contracts

etiquette; markets; contracts

Question 23

1. 2. If the production of 2,000 cars and 500 tons of corn during a year is economically efficient for a country which produces only these two products, which of the following conclusions can be drawn?

It satisfies domestic demand completely.

The production of cars cannot be increased without reducing the production of corn.

The reallocation of resources to change the production level must reduce production of both goods.

It is possible to increase the production of both if resources can be reallocated.

Question 24

1. 2. If the transaction between you and the seller takes place at a price that equals your valuation of the product, then:

you realize all the gains from this transaction.

the gains from this transaction are equally divided between the two of you.

the entire economic value created by the transaction goes to the seller.

the economic value created by this transaction is sub-optimal.

Question 25

1. 2. The main reason Sears Roebuck became the largest retailer in the United States during the late nineteenth century was that:

it reduced a host of transaction costs which allowed higher profits to shareholders and lower prices to customers.

the railroad network improved substantially and charged higher rates for transporting goods.

the lack of competition lowered the cost of advertising and increased profits for shareholders.

his organization only interacted with the best wholesalers, distributors, and shippers in the business.

Question 26

1. 2. Trade between two parties is beneficial because:

it ensures that the standard of living in the poorer country matches its trading partner eventually.

it enables each to consume a bundle of goods that it cannot produced domestically.

it has an immediate effect on an economy by increasing its production set.

it allows the economy of both trading partners to grow equally.

Question 27

1. 2. The function of economic institutions is to:

determine the profit margin of producers.

determine how much an economy benefits from trade.

define the environment in which we can trade.

define the terms of trade between nations.

Question 28

1. 2. Fiona and Alicia divide their time equally between ironing shirts and cooking meals. Fiona can iron 5 shirts and cook 2 meals in an hour. Alicia can iron 6 shirts and cook 1 meal in an hour. If they have to iron 15 shirts and cook 5 meals, who should specialize in which activity?

Fiona should do all the work.

Alicia should do all the work.

Fiona should specialize in cooking meals and Alicia should specialize in ironing shirts.

Alicia should specialize in cooking meals and Fiona should specialize in ironing shirts.

Question 29

1. 2. Reducing _____ the benefits available to the buyer and seller and might also enable them to make exchanges that were previously impossible.

transaction costs decreases

transaction costs increases

marginal costs decreases

marginal costs increases

Question 30

1. 2. The shares of the economic value of a particular transaction that accrues to the seller and the buyer depend on:

the buyer’s opportunity cost.

the relative bargaining powers of the two parties.

the cost of production incurred by the seller while producing the good.

the lobbying techniques adopted by the two parties.