Pearson eText Microeconomics -- Access Card
Pearson eText Microeconomics -- Access Card
7th Edition
ISBN: 9780136850045
Author: Hubbard, Glenn, O'Brien, Anthony
Publisher: PEARSON
Question
Book Icon
Chapter 4, Problem 1TC
To determine

The effect of tax on economic efficiency.

Expert Solution & Answer
Check Mark

Explanation of Solution

Tax is a unilateral payment made to the government from the public for various purposes. There are many types of taxes, such as income tax, wealth tax, and so forth, which constitute a major portion of the revenue of the government that can be used for making public expenditures. Economic efficiency is a situation where no one can be in a better position without hurting the other. In the case, economic efficiency is the situation where the marginal benefit (of the consumer) from the last unit produced is equal to the marginal cost of the production of the unit. This means that both of them will be the same and neither the consumer nor the producer can be in a better position. The sum of the consumer surplus and the producer surplus, which is the economic surplus, will be at its maximum.

Here, the tax imposed on the ride is 20%, which is equal to 6 pounds. This is because the equilibrium price was 30 pounds before the tax and the equilibrium quantity of the ride was 12,000. After the introduction of the tax on the ride, the price of the ride increased to 33 pounds, which is 3 pounds higher than the equilibrium rent. As a result of the new tax, the supply curve shifts upwards by the amount of tax imposed.

Thus, the supply vertically shifts by the tax amount of 6 pounds, and as a result, the quantity demanded decreases to 8,500 rides. The owner of the vehicles receives only 27 pounds, which is the reason for the decrease in the supply of the rides in the market. Thus, the consumer has to pay 33 pounds more than the equilibrium price, whereas the owner receives 3 pounds less than the equilibrium price received by him before the tax. Thus, the tax is equally shared among the consumer and the owner (by 3 pounds each). The economic efficiency is reduced by the tax because there will be deadweight loss in the economy due to the tax imposed by the government. The deadweight loss in the economy can be represented by the grey shaded area in the graph as follows:

Pearson eText Microeconomics -- Access Card, Chapter 4, Problem 1TC

The new quantity demanded after the introduction of the tax is 8,500 rides and the new price after the introduction of the tax is 33 pounds. The price actually received by the owner of the vehicle also reduces to 27 pounds; this means that both the owner and the consumer are paying 3 pounds each as tax. This shows that the tax burden is evenly distributed between the seller and the buyer. There is deadweight loss in the economy because of the tax and it can be denoted by the area shaded in grey colour on the graph.

Economics Concept Introduction

Concept introduction:

Tax: It is the unilateral payment made by the public towards the government. There are many different types of taxes in the economy, which includes income tax, property tax, professional tax, and so forth.

Economic efficiency: It is the situation where the economy is efficient. This means that the marginal benefit from the last unit produced is equal to the marginal cost of production and the economic surplus will be at is maximum.

Want to see more full solutions like this?

Subscribe now to access step-by-step solutions to millions of textbook problems written by subject matter experts!
Students have asked these similar questions
1. A town relies on four different sources for its non-drinking water needs: dam water, reclaimed water, rain water, and desalinated water. The different sources carry different risks and costs. For instance, desalinated water is fully reliable due to abundant sea water, but it is more expensive than other options. Reclaimed water also has relatively lower risk than rain or dam water since a certain amount can be obtained, even during the dry. season, by the treatment of daily generated waste water. Using any of the four options requires an investment in that resource. The return on a particular water source is defined as the amount of water generated by the source per dollar of investment in it. The expected returns and standard deviations of those returns for the four water sources are described in the following table: Water resource Expected return St. Deviation Dam water 2.7481 0.2732 Reclaimed water 1.6005 0.0330 Rain water 0.5477 0.2865 Desalinated water 0.3277 0.0000 Higher…
1. Imagine a society that produces military goods and consumer goods, which we'll call "guns" and "butter." a. Draw a production possibilities frontier for guns and butter. Using the concept of opportunity cost, explain why it most likely has a bowed-out shape. b. Show a point that is impossible for the economy to achieve. Show a point that is feasible but inefficient. c. Imagine that the society has two political parties, called the Hawks (who want a strong military) and the Doves (who want a smaller military). Show a point on your production possibilities frontier that the Hawks might choose and a point the Doves might choose. d. Imagine that an aggressive neighboring country reduces the size of its military. As a result, both the Hawks and the Doves reduce their desired production of guns by the same amount. Which party would get the bigger "peace dividend," measured by the increase in butter production? Explain.
A health study tracked a group of persons for five years. At the beginning of the study, 20%were classified as heavy smokers, 30% as light smokers, and 50% as nonsmokers. Resultsof the study showed that light smokers were twice as likely as nonsmokers to die duringthe five-year study, but only half as likely as heavy smokers.A randomly selected participant from the study died during the five-year period. Calculatethe probability that the participant was a heavy smoker

Chapter 4 Solutions

Pearson eText Microeconomics -- Access Card

Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Similar questions
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
Microeconomics A Contemporary Intro
Economics
ISBN:9781285635101
Author:MCEACHERN
Publisher:Cengage
Text book image
Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice (MindTa...
Economics
ISBN:9781305506893
Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. Macpherson
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Economics: Private and Public Choice (MindTap Cou...
Economics
ISBN:9781305506725
Author:James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. Macpherson
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Managerial Economics: Applications, Strategies an...
Economics
ISBN:9781305506381
Author:James R. McGuigan, R. Charles Moyer, Frederick H.deB. Harris
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Micro Economics For Today
Economics
ISBN:9781337613064
Author:Tucker, Irvin B.
Publisher:Cengage,
Text book image
Economics For Today
Economics
ISBN:9781337613040
Author:Tucker
Publisher:Cengage Learning