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Consider once again the combination of market failures outlined in Problem 3. Recall that the demand for wood pulp is described by P = 500 - 10Q, where Q is measured in thousands of units. The long-run cost of production exhibits constant returns to scale: LAC = LMC = 150. Producing a unit of wood pulp generates one unit of pollution, and the marginal external cost is estimated to be 100 per extra unit of pollution.

a. Create a spreadsheet similar to the one shown to model this setting. In the spreadsheet, cells B10, C10, and D10 contain numerical values. The entries in rows 15 and 19 and cell E10 are computed by formulas linked to the numerical cells. Hints: Remember that consumer surplus is found by using the formula for the area of a triangle, in this case:
.5*(500-E10)*B10. Total benefit is the sum of consumer surplus, net profit, and government tax revenue minus the external costs associated with pollution.

b. Using the spreadsheet, confirm the output and price results for each of the analyst's recommendations in Problem 3. Then find the optimal regulatory policy using the spreadsheet's optimizer. That is, maximize total benefit by adjusting the output and tax cells.

c. Now suppose that the wood pulp producers can clean up part or all of their pollution at a cost. The total cost of cleaning up u units of pollution is 5u2; that is, it increases quadratically. By cleaning up pollution, producers avoid any tax. Thus, the government's tax

 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

COPING WITH AN EXTERNALITY

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

Market Demand

LMC = LAC

 

MCEXT

 

5

 

 

P = 500 - 10Q

150

 

100

 

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 

Quantity

Tax

Clean Up (u)

Price

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

10

0

0

400

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

Con Surp

Net Profit

Govt Rev

External Cost

 

Total Benefit

 

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

500

2,500

0

1,000

 

2,000

 

16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17

 

 

Gross Profit

tax+clnup cost

tax - MCu

 

 

 

18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19

 

 

2,500

0

0

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

revenue is given by R = t(Q - u), and the firms' total pollution related costs are t(Q - u) + 5u2 (cell D19). Find the optimal output, tax, and cleanup. (Hint: Maximize total benefits subject to cell E19 equaling zero. Remember that the firms will reduce pollution up to the point that the tax/unit equals the MC of cleaning up an extra unit and note that MC = 10u.) Explain your results.

Microeconomics, Economics

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