1.A worker is most likely to earn economic rent when the marginal revenue product (MRP) from her labor and the supply curve for her type of labor exhibit which of the following characteristics?

A)                      High                            More elastic

B)                      Low                             Less elastic

C)                      Low                             More elastic

D)                      High                            Less elastic

2.Under which pair of conditions is a factor of production least likely to earn economic rent?

A)                Upward sloping              Downward sloping

B)                Perfectly elastic             Downward sloping

C)                Upward sloping              Perfectly elastic

D)                Perfectly inelastic            Perfectly elastic

3.Which of the following statements about the economic rent to a natural resource is most accurate?

A)  The entire payment for a non-renewable natural resource is economic rent.

B)  A non-renewable natural resource earns economic rent only if demand for the resource is perfectly inelastic.

C)  The proportion of economic rent in the payment for a renewable natural resource depends on the elasticity of demand for the resource.

D)  The entire payment for a renewable natural resource is economic rent.

答案和详解如下：

1.A worker is most likely to earn economic rent when the marginal revenue product (MRP) from her labor and the supply curve for her type of labor exhibit which of the following characteristics?

MRP

Supply curve

A)                                        High      More elastic

B)                                        Low       Less elastic

C)                                        Low       More elastic

D)                                        High      Less elastic

The correct answer was D)

Economic rent is the difference between the price paid for a resource and its opportunity cost in its next-highest-valued employment. To earn economic rent, a worker must generate a high marginal revenue product. The less elastic its supply curve, the more of the wage is economic rent. Popular entertainers and professional athletes, for example, earn economic rent because their services are valued much more highly in those occupations (high MRP) than they would be in their next-best alternative, and very few people possess their specific skills (inelastic supply).

2.Under which pair of conditions is a factor of production least likely to earn economic rent?

Supply curve

Demand curve

A)                                        Upward sloping   Downward sloping

B)                                        Perfectly elastic  Downward sloping

C)                                        Upward sloping   Perfectly elastic

D)                                        Perfectly inelastic      Perfectly elastic

The correct answer was B)

If the supply of a productive resource is perfectly elastic, it earns no economic rent. Elasticity of demand is not directly related to economic rent.

3.Which of the following statements about the economic rent to a natural resource is most accurate?

A)  The entire payment for a non-renewable natural resource is economic rent.

B)  A non-renewable natural resource earns economic rent only if demand for the resource is perfectly inelastic.

C)  The proportion of economic rent in the payment for a renewable natural resource depends on the elasticity of demand for the resource.

D)  The entire payment for a renewable natural resource is economic rent.

The correct answer was D)

When the supply curve is perfectly inelastic, as it is for a renewable natural resource, the entire payment for the resource is economic rent. When the supply curve is perfectly elastic, as with a non-renewable natural resource, none of the payment is economic rent.