In: Economics
Q1) Suppose you plan to reduce carbon emissions by a total of 384 units. Assume that we have 3 polluting firms and q1, q2, and q3 are, respectively, the amount of pollution removed by each company that you choose to use so that the goal will be accomplished by any combination of methods such that q1 + q2 + q3 = 384. If the marginal costs of each removal method are, respectively, MC1 = $10 + $5q1, MC2 = $5 + $10q2, and MC3 = $5 + $20q3.
How much should each firm reduce pollution by to achieve the pollution reduction cost-effectively?
Answer )
We are given,
q1 + q2 + q3 = 384 .....eq(1)
MC1 = 10 + 5q1 .....eq(2)
MC2 = 5 +10q2 .....eq(3)
MC3 = 5 + 20q3 ......eq(4)
From eq(1) , we can write q1 as
q1 = 384 - q2 - q3 ......eq(5)
Substituting eq(5 )in eq(2) and equating it to eq(3) gives,
10 + 5(384 - q2 - q3 ) = 5 + 10q2
10 + 1920 - 5q2 - 5q3 = 5 + 10q2
1925 - 15q2 = 5q3
q3 = 385 - 3q2 ..... eq(6)
Substituting eq(6) in eq(4) and equating it to equation (3)
5 + 20(385 - 3q2) = 5 +10q2
5 + 7700 - 60q2 = 5 + 10q2
=> 70q2 = 7700
=> q2 = 7700/70
=> q2 = 110
Using eq(6) to find q3
q3 = 385 - 3q2 = 385 - 3(110)
q3 = 55
Using eq(5) t ofind q1 gives,
q1 = 384 - q2 - q3 = 384 - 110 - 55
q1 = 219
From the above calculations , we can conclude that Firm-1 should abate 219 units of pollution, Firm-2 should abate 110 units of pollution, and Firm-3 should abate 55 units of pollution in order to reduce the overall pollution in a cost-effective manner.