Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 5: Q 10 (page 120)

The French government recently allocated the equivalent of more than $120 million in public funds to Quaero (Latin for “I search”), an Internet search engine analogous to Google or Yahoo. Does an Internet search engine satisfy the key characteristics of public good? Why or why not? Based on your answer, is a publicly funded Internet search engine a public good or a government-sponsored good?

Short Answer

Expert verified

An Internet search engine is not a public good.

A publicly-funded search engine is a government-sponsored good.

Step by step solution

01

Step 1. Definition of the public good.

Public goods are those goods that are non-rival and non-excludable in characteristics.

02

Step 2. Internet search engine.

The Internet search engine is not a public good because it does not satisfy all the characteristics of the public good. It is non-rival as the quality does not change for every different person but it is excludable if login Id and password are put in.

A publicly-funded search engine is a government-sponsored good.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Many people who do not smoke cigars are bothered by the odor of cigar smoke. If private contracting is impossible and in the absence of any government involvement in the market for cigars, will too many or too few cigars be produced and consumed? From society’s point of view, will the market price of cigars be too high or too low?

Based on your answer to Question 5-17, if Pennsylvania's government aims to correct the steel market's negative externality via an effluent fee, is the appropriate fee higher or lower now than steel producers have adopted the new technique? Why or why not?

Describe political functions of government that entail its involvement in economy.

Suppose that repeated application of a pesticide used on orange trees causes harmful contamination of groundwater. The pesticide is applied annually in almost all of the orange groves throughout the world. Most orange growers regard the pesticide as a key input in their production of oranges.

(a) Use a diagram of the market for the pesticide to illustrate the implications of a failure of orange producers’ costs to reflect the social costs of groundwater contamination.

(b) Use your diagram from part (a) to explain a government policy that might be effective in achieving the amount of orange production that fully reflects

all social costs.

Suppose that the U.S. government determines that cigarette smoking creates social costs not reflected in the current market price and equilibrium quantity of cigarettes. A study has recommended that the government can correct the externality effect of cigarette consumption by paying farmers not to plant tobacco used to manufacture cigarettes. It also recommends raising the funds to make these payments by increasing taxes on cigarettes. Assuming that the government is correct that cigarette smoking creates external costs, evaluate whether the study’s recommended policies might help correct this negative externality.
See all solutions

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free