Table 16-3
Imagine a Small Town in Which Only Two

question 143

Multiple Choice

Table 16-3
Imagine a small town in which only two residents, Robert and John, own wells that produce water for safe drinking.Each Saturday, Robert and John work together to decide how many litres of water to pump, bring the water to town, and sell it at whatever price the market will bear.To keep things simple, suppose that Robert and John can pump as much water as they want without cost; therefore, the marginal cost of water equals zero.The weekly town demand schedule and total revenue schedule for water are shown in the table. $\begin{array}{|c|c|c|}\hline \text { Weekly quantity (in litres) } & \text { Price (\$) per litre } & \begin{array}{c}\text { Weekly total revenue (and } \\\text { total profit) (\$) }\end{array} \\\hline 0 & 12 & \$ 0 \\\hline 5 & 11 & 55 \\\hline 10 & 10 & 100 \\\hline 15 & 9 & 135 \\\hline 20 & 8 & 160 \\\hline 25 & 7 & 175 \\\hline 30 & 6 & 180 \\\hline 35 & 5 & 175 \\\hline 40 & 4 & 160 \\\hline 45 & 3 & 135 \\\hline 50 & 2 & 100 \\\hline 55 & 1 & 55 \\\hline 60 & 0 & 0 \\\hline\end{array}$
-Refer to Table 16-3.The socially efficient level of water supplied to the market would be:

• A)15 litres
• B)30 litres
• C)45 litres
• D)60 litres

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Definitions:

Variable Cost

A cost that changes in proportion with the level of output or activity.

Fixed Costs

Business expenses that remain unchanged regardless of the level of production or sales activities, such as rent, salaries, and insurance.

Breakeven Volume

The quantity of output or sales at which total revenues equal total costs, resulting in no profit or loss.

Sales Revenues

The total amount of money generated from sales of goods or services by a company before any expenses are subtracted.