TABLE 17-6
a Student Wanted to Find Out the Optimal

question 2

Short Answer

TABLE 17-6
A student wanted to find out the optimal strategy to study for a Business Statistics exam. He constructed the following payoff table based on the average amount of time he needed to put in every week studying for the course and the degree of difficulty of the exam. From the information that he gathered from students who had taken the course, he concluded that there was a 40% probability that the exam would be easy.
$$\begin{array} { | l | c | c | c | } \hline & \text { 16 hours } & 8 \text { hours } & \text { 4 hours } \\\hline \text { Easy Exam } & 40 & 60 & 80 \\\hline \text { Difficult Exam } & 100 & 50 & 0 \\\hline\end{array}$$
-Referring to Table 17-6, what would be the expected profit if the student had perfect information on whether the exam will be easy or difficult?

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Definitions:

Financial Risk

The possibility of losing money on an investment or business venture, including market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk.

Variable Cost Ratio

This is a financial metric that represents the variable costs incurred as a percentage of sales, showing how much of each sales dollar is eaten by variable costs.

Degree of Total Leverage

The degree of total leverage measures the sensitivity of a company's net income to a change in sales, combining both operating and financial leverage effects.

Fixed Operating Costs

Expenses that remain constant regardless of the amount of output or sales, including rent, wages, and insurance premiums.