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There are two problems on the exam. All problems will be graded, and
each will be worth one half of the grade for this exam. The grading
on the exam will be stricter than on problem sets, so please make sure
that you answer the questions carefully.
1Intermediate Microeconomics NYUAD, Spring 2018
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2Intermediate Microeconomics NYUAD, Spring 2018
Problem 1: Non-linear pricing
Suppose that there two goods X and Y , available in arbitrary nonnegative quantities (so the the consumption set is R2 +). The
consumer
has preferences over consumption bundles that are strongly monotone,
strictly convex, and represented by the following (differentiable) utility
function:
u(x, y) = y + 2α√x,
where x is the quantity of good X, and y is the quantity of good Y ,
and α ≥ 0 is a utility parameter.
The consumer has strictly positive wealth w > 0. The price of good
Y is pY = 1. However, the price of good X depends on the quantity
of good X that the consumer purchases. In particular, pX(x) = √1x,
where x is the quantity of good X the consumer purchases. (Note that
pX(x) is the price per unit when the consumer purchases x units).
(1) In an appropriate diagram, illustrate (i) the indifference map for
the consumer, and (ii) the consumer’s budget set. Make sure you
label diagrams clearly, and include as part of your answer any calculations about the slopes and intercepts of the indifference
curves
and the budget line.
(2) Formulate and solve the consumer’s utility maximization problem,
and find the demand and value functions. Your demand and value
functions should be functions of the parameters w and α.
3Intermediate Microeconomics NYUAD, Spring 2018
(3) Suppose w = 10. In an appropriate diagram, illustrate the demand
function for good X, x(α|w = 10), and for good Y , y(α|w = 10).
4Intermediate Microeconomics NYUAD, Spring 2018
Problem 2: Endowment effect
Suppose that there two goods X and Y , available in arbitrary nonnegative quantities (so the the consumption set is R2 +).
Instead of being endowed with a fixed amount of wealth w, the consumer has an initial endowment of the two goods, ¯ x > 0 and ¯ y >
0,
where ¯ x is the quantity of good X the consumer owns and ¯ y is the
quantity of good Y the consumer owns. The consumer has no additional wealth, but the consumer can buy and sell goods X and Y at
the fixed prices pX > 0 (for good X) and pY > 0 (for good Y ).
(1) In an appropriate diagram, illustrate the consumer’s budget set.
Make sure you label the diagrams clearly, and include as part of
your answer, the slope and intercepts of the budget line.
The consumer has preferences over consumption bundles that are strongly
monotone and strictly convex. However, the consumer’s preferences
depend on their initial endowment of the good. (Preferences with this
property are called endowment-dependent preferences and have been
studied widely by economists in recent years). In particular, the consumer’s preferences can be represented by the following
“endowmentdependent” utility function:
u(x, y) = min 1 3 log x x¯ + 23 log y y¯ , 23 log x x¯ + 1 3 log yy¯ ,
where x is the quantity of good X, y is the quantity of good Y , and
(¯ x, y¯) >> 0 is the consumer’s initial endowment of the two goods.
5Intermediate Microeconomics NYUAD, Spring 2018
(Note that the utility function u : R2 + → R is not differentiable, but
the function f(x, y|p, x, ¯ y¯) = p log x x¯ + (1−p) log yy¯ is differentiable
for any parameters (p, x, ¯ y¯) >> 0).
(2) In an appropriate diagram, illustrate the indifference map for the
consumer. Make sure you label the diagram clearly.
(3) Formulate and solve the consumer’s utility maximization problem,
and find the demand functions. Note that the demand functions
will depend on the parameters (pX, pY , x, ¯ y¯) >> 0.
(4) For what prices (pX, pY ) does the consumer optimally decide to (i)
consume their initial endowment of the goods, (ii) sell some units
of good Y to buy more units of good X, or (iii) sell some units of
good X to buy more units of good Y ?
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