In: Economics
Assume that you have inherited the family farm while mid-way
through your undergraduate degree. The farm...
- Assume that you have inherited the family farm while mid-way
through your undergraduate degree. The farm produces wheat. You
want to complete your major in economics and want to employ a
manager. The manager relies only on the income I you offer
and she is assumed to maximise expected utility.
Her utility, at low effort:
uI= I
Her utility, at high effort:
ui=I-46.3.
You are considering two compensation
packages:
- Pay a flat salary of $50,000.
- Assuming a flat salary, calculate the manager’s utility
associated with low effort and high effort.
- Calculate the difference in terms of utility between high
effort and low effort. Justify the difference.
- Profit based compensation.
The labour market is competitive and
salaries must at least be 223.6 in expected utility terms. Profits
and probabilities (p) associated with low and high effort
are listed in the table below.
|
Low wheat price
(p=0.5)
|
High wheat price
(p=0.5)
|
Low effort
|
$50,000
|
$150,000
|
High effort
|
$100,000
|
$200,000
|
- What proportion (x) of the profits will incentivise
the manager to apply high effort?
- Will the manager provide high effort? Justify your answer.
- Are you better off? Justify your answer.