ECON1001 Microeconomics for Business Decisions
ECON1001 商业决策的微观经济学

Week 4 Workshop Activities

Assume that in Happytown the equilibrium price of rented apartments is $800 per month and the equilibrium quantity is 300 000 apartments available to rent. In this case, assume that every renter who is willing to pay the market price of $800 per month will find an apartment and every landlord willing to accept the market price of $800 per month will find a renter. The demand and supply curves are shown in the figure below, along with the equilibrium price (PE) and quantity (QE).
假设在 Happytown 中，出租公寓的均衡价格为每月 800 美元，均衡数量为 300,000 套可供出租的公寓。在这种情况下，假设每个愿意支付每月 800 美元市场价格的租房者都会找到一套公寓，每个愿意接受每月 800 美元市场价格的房东都会找到租房者。供需曲线如下图所示，以及均衡价格（PE）和数量（QE）。

Now assume that the government, in order to win votes from non-property owners, imposes a price ceiling of $600 rent per month. That is, no landlord can legally charge above this for a rental property.
现在假设政府为了赢得非业主的选票，规定了每月 600 美元的租金上限。也就是说，任何房东都不能合法地对出租物业收取高于此费用的费用。

a) The quantity demanded is now (Answer: 350 000) but the quantity supplied is only (250 000 apartments), so there is a shortage of (100 000 apartments).
a） 现在需求量是（答案：350 000），但供应量只有（250 000套公寓），因此短缺（100 000套公寓）。

b) Assume that all landlords abide by the law, so there is no underground market for rental apartments. The quantity rented will fall to 250 000. As shown in the figure, consumer surplus with the price ceiling enforced is (A + C), producer surplus is (E), and deadweight loss is B + D.
b） 假设所有房东都遵守法律，因此出租公寓没有地下市场。出租数量将降至250 000。如图所示，实施价格上限的消费者剩余为（A+C），生产者剩余为（E），无谓损失为B+D。

c) If landlords supply only 250 000 apartments and ignore the price ceiling, they can charge $1000. This is the amount that renters are willing to pay for the 250 000th apartment. This diagram below can help with this question.
c） 如果房东只提供 250 000 套公寓并忽略价格上限，他们可以收取 1000 美元。这是租房者愿意为第250 000套公寓支付的金额。下图可以帮助解决这个问题。

A student makes the following argument: “When a market is in equilibrium there is no consumer surplus. We know this because in equilibrium the market price is equal to the price consumers are willing to pay for the good”. Briefly explain whether you agree with the student’s argument.
一位学生提出了以下论点：“当市场处于均衡状态时，就没有消费者剩余。我们之所以知道这一点，是因为在均衡状态下，市场价格等于消费者愿意为商品支付的价格。简要说明你是否同意学生的论点。

ANS: The argument is incorrect. The price of the last unit sold equals the willingness of
ANS：这个论点是不正确的。最后售出的单位的价格等于

consumers to pay for that unit, but on all previous units, the willingness of consumers
消费者为该单位买单，但对之前的所有单位，消费者的意愿

to pay exceeds the equilibrium price, and so there is consumer surplus.
支付超过均衡价格，因此存在消费者剩余。

The following figure illustrates the market for apples in which the government has imposed a price floor of $10 per crate.
下图说明了政府对每箱 10 美元的苹果市场施加了最低价格。

a) How many crates of apples will be sold after the price floor has been imposed?
a） 在实行价格下限后，将售出多少箱苹果？

Answer: 28 million crates

b) Will there be a shortage or a surplus? If there is a shortage or a surplus, how large will it be?
b） 会出现短缺还是过剩？如果出现短缺或过剩，会有多大？

Answer: A surplus of 6 million crates (QD = 28, QS = 34, Surplus = QS – QD = 34 – 28 = 6 million crates)
答：盈余 600 万箱（QD = 28，QS = 34，盈余 = QS – QD = 34 – 28 = 600 万箱）

c) Will apple producers benefit from the price floor? If so, explain by how much they will benefit.
c） 苹果生产商会从价格下限中受益吗？如果是这样，请解释他们将受益多少。

Answer: The apple producers will benefit. Their revenue will increase from $8 ×
答：苹果生产商将受益。他们的收入将从 8 美元增加到×

30 000 000 = $240 000 000 to $10 × 28 000 000 = $280 000 000.
30 000 000 = 240 000 000 美元至 10 美元× 28 000 000 = 280 000 000 美元。

So the apple growers are $40 million better off than before the price floor was
因此，苹果种植者的收入比价格下限之前高出4000万美元

imposed (but note consumers are worse off).
强加的（但请注意，消费者的情况更糟）。

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