=========================preview======================
(econ324)[2001](f)final~masze^_10247.pdf
Back to ECON324 Login to download
======================================================
Department of Economics, HKUST
ECON 324
ECONOMICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Semester: Fall 2001 S. F. Leung
Final Examination
December 18, 2001
12:30 pm C 3:30 pm
This is a closed book examination. You have 3 hours to complete the test. Write coherently, lucidly, and legibly. Always explain your answer. The maximum score for this exam is 180 points. Points are marked next to the questions and may be served as a guide to how much time you should allocate on each question. Use mathematics and/or diagrams wherever appropriate to strengthen your answer. More credit will be given to convincing and complete arguments.
1. (30)
Consider a marriage market with two males (M1 and M2) and two females (F1 and F2). Only monogamy is allowed. Let Zkj denote the marriage output if Mk (k = 1, 2) marries Fj (j = 1, 2). The gains from marriage can be bargained and negotiated freely and costlessly among the market participants. Assume that Zkj = f(AMk,AFj), where AMk = attribute of Mk and AFj = attribute of Fj. Let AM2 > AM1 and AF2 > AF1.
F1 F2
M1 Z11 Z12
M2 Z21 Z22
(a) (10) Suppose Z22 C Z12 > Z21 C Z11. What is the economic meaning of this inequality?
(b) (10) If Z22 C Z12 > Z21 C Z11, what is the optimal assortative mating (positive or negative) in this marriage market? Why?
(c) (10) Suppose Z11 = 15, Z12 = 20, Z21 = 17, Z22 = 23. Let the single output of M1, M2, F1, and F2 be 7, 8, 5, and 6, respectively. Find the optimal marriage equilibrium. Is the optimal mating positive or negative assortative? Explain.
2. (20) True/False/Uncertain (Use diagrams to aid your analysis)
"If
(i) the number of men is equal to the number of women,
(ii) all men are identical, and
(iii) all women are identical,
then all marriages must be monogamous. If either (i), (ii), or (iii) does not hold, then some marriages can be polygamous."
3. (10)
Economic theory suggests that men marry later and women marry earlier in more polygynous societies. Why? Give two different reasons.
4. (10)
According to anthropologists Gaulin and Boster, brideprice is common and dowry is rare. They find that of the 1,267 societies recorded in Murdocks Ethnographic Atlas, two-thirds have positive brideprices, while only about three percent have dowries. Why is brideprice more common than dowry? Explain.
5. (30)
(a) (10) Economic theory suggests that the bride price for a tung-yang-hsi is lower than that for an adult bride. Why? Give two different reasons.
(b) (10) Economic theory suggests that the middleman fee for a minor marriage that involves a tung-yang-hsi is lower than that for a major marriage. Why? Give two different reasons.
(c) (10) According to Steven Cheung, it is puzzling to observe that, despite a lower bride price and a lower middleman fee, minor marriages wer