Multiple Choice Questions

1) Marriage is a _________, which means that marriage partners commit to one

another and in doing so adopt a longer-term perspective.

a. Rational Choice

b. Intertemporal Commitment Device

c. Institution

d. Opportunity Cost

2) Consider a production possibilities frontier for a woman, where market

goods are on the vertical axis and household goods are on the horizontal axis.

The absolute value of the slope of the production possibilities frontier

represents,

a. Her opportunity cost of producing home goods, which is the number

of market goods she gives up to produce home good.

b. Her opportunity cost of producing market goods, which is the number

of market goods she gives up to produce a home good.

c. Her opportunity cost of producing home goods, which is the number

of home goods she gives up to produce a market good.

d. Her opportunity cost of producing market goods, which is the number

of home goods she gives up to produce a market good.

3) Suppose ????! is the surplus a female receives if she is married. Suppose ????! is

the surplus the man receives if married. The total surplus from being

married is ????!”. Alternatively if the woman is single she receives ????!, and if

the man is single she receives ????!. ????!, ????!, ????!, ????!. What does ????!”

equal?

a. 5

b. 11

c. 7

d. 10

4) Use the scenario in Question 3. What should this couple do?

a. This couple should remain married because their total surplus from

being married is greater than their total surplus from being single.

b. This couple should get divorce because their total surplus from being

single is greater than their total surplus from being married.

c. The couple should remain single because the woman is better off

single.

d. The couple should remain single because the man is better off single.

5) In plotting the supply of curve for the marriage market with the surplus

married women receive on the vertical axis and the number of women on the

horizontal axis, the supply curve is upward sloping because

a. More men want to get married when his share of the surplus is high

b. More men want to get married when his share of the surplus is low

c. More women want to get married when her share of the surplus is

high

d. More women want to get married when her share of the surplus is

low

6) In the supply and demand market described in question 5, the supply curve

is eventually vertical. The value on the vertical axis at which the supply curve

becomes vertical represents

a. The surplus at which all women in the economy would want to be

married

b. The surplus at which all of the men in the economy would want to be

married

c. The surplus at which all women in the economy would remain single

d. The surplus at which all men in the economy would remain single

7) Suppose there is a decrease in the number of women in the population

relative to men. This would

a. Shift the supply curve for women to the left, and result in fewer

marriages with women receiving a higher equilibrium surplus from

the marriage

b. Shift the supply curve for women to the right, and result in more

marriages with women receiving a lower equilibrium surplus from

the marriage

c. Shift the supply curve for women to the left, and result in more

marriages with women receiving a higher equilibrium surplus from

the marriage

d. Shift the supply curve for women to the right, and result in less

marriages with women receiving a lower equilibrium surplus from

the marriage

8) The Non-Marital Birth Ratio is equal to

a. Single women/ number of women

b. Births to single women/ number of single women

c. Births to single women/ total number of births

d. Births to married women/ births to single women

Use table to answer questions 9 and 10

People/Preferences 1st 2nd 3rd

Jake Sally Mary Carla

Doug Sally Carla Mary

Greg Mary Sally Carla

Sally Jake Doug Greg

Mary Doug Jake Greg

Carla Jake Greg Doug

9) The following is a stable match if the women choose first and don’t lie about

their preferences:

a. Carla with Jake, Mary with Doug, Sally with Greg

b. Sally with Jake, Mary with Doug, Carla with Greg

c. Sally with Jake, Carla with Doug, Mary with Greg

d. Carla with Jake, Sally with Doug, Mary with Greg

10) Many social safety net programs in the United States are means tested. This

means that your benefits depend on the amount of income you make.

Suppose the formula for benefits is -tY, where B stands for total benefits,

G is the guarantee, t is the amount of benefits that are reduced per extra

dollar of income earned, and Y is income. What is the impact of raising t on a

woman’s work decision?

a. Raising t only has an income effect for those women who are currently

working in the market, an increase in t implies less income.

Therefore, women would work more.

b. Raising t only has a substitution effect for those women who are

currently working in the market, an increase in t implies a lower

wage. With a lower wage the opportunity cost of taking leisure time is

lower. Women reduce hours worked.

c. Raising t only has a substitution effect for those women who are

currently working in the market, an increase in t implies a higher

wage. With a higher wage the opportunity cost of taking leisure time

is higher. Women increase hours worked.

d. There is both an income and substitution effect. The income effect

would increase hours of work and the substitution effect would

decrease hours of work. The overall effect is indeterminable.

11) A subsidy in the form of childcare services,

a. Shifts the marginal value of time in the market curve up, making it

more likely that a woman works in the market

b. Shifts the marginal value of time in the market curve down, making it

more likely that a woman works in the market

c. Shifts the marginal value of time in the market curve up, making it less

likely that a woman works in the market

d. Shifts the marginal value of time in the market curve down, making it

less likely that a woman works in the market

12) One of the gains from marriage that is also a gain from cohabitation is

economies of scale. Which of the following is an example of economies of

scale?

a. Some men have a lower opportunity cost of market work compared to

housework relative to their wives, so their wives stay home and they

work.

b. They can use the services that their house provides them at the same

time.

c. Through living together couples can lower their costs through only

buying one refrigerator, one washing machine, and one oven.

d. Husbands and wives make decisions about the future together, such

as the number of children they have and education decisions.

13) Absolute advantage is

a. when one partner produces at a lower opportunity cost than another

partner.

b. a skill that an individual develops as a result of an investment in time.

c. when one partner is more productive than the other in one sector.

d. the total amount produced when all available time is spent producing

one good.

14) Which of the following is untrue about search theory for finding a partner?

a. Men and women search until their marginal benefit is equal to their

marginal cost.

b. Marginal costs of search theory include time and money spent dating.

c. The marginal benefit of searching will be positive when individuals

stop searching for a partner

d. Marginal benefits of searching increase over time.

15) The divorce rate is

a. number of women divorced/population

b. number of women divorce/number of women

c. annual divorces/existing marriages

d. none of the above

16) ____________ can lead to divorce because decide to marry when they don’t

know everything about one another, they only have expectations over what

will happen in the future based on what has been revealed to them.

a. liabilities

b. imperfect information

c. choices

d. preferences

17) If women’s wages increase in the market, this would

a. Increase her threshold point on the utilities possibilities frontier

giving her more bargaining power.

b. Increase her threshold point on the utilities possibilities frontier

giving her less bargaining power.

c. Decrease her threshold point on the utilities possibilities frontier

giving her more bargaining power.

d. Decrease her threshold point on the utilities possibilities frontier

giving her less bargaining power.

e.

18) What did no-fault and divorce do?

a. Increased the divorce rate because people did not put as much

thought into getting married.

b. Did not change the divorce rate, made it easier for those who wanted

to get divorced, speeding up the process and allowing those who

wanted out to have a greater surplus

c. Did not change the divorce rate, but slowed the process down.

d. Decreased the divorce rate.

19) Which of the following statements are true about assortative mating?

a. Positive assortative mating means likes marry likes

b. Negative assortative mating means people match with those who are

their opposite

c. Income inequality has been attributed to positive assortative mating

d. All of the above

20) The main conclusion from the paper about the MTV show 16 and pregnant

a. Was that the show 16 and pregnant resulted in a fall in teen births

b. Was that the show 16 and pregnant resulted in an increase in teen

births

c. Was that the show 16 and pregnant resulted in no statistically

significant change in teen births

d. Was that the show resulted in a change in the overall fertility rate

21) If the marginal value of time for leisure is currently less than the marginal

value of time in the home,

a. a shift of a unit of time to leisure and away from home production

would increase utility.

b. a shift a unit of time to home production and away from leisure would

decrease utility.

c. a shift of a unit of time to home production and away from leisure

would increase utility.

d. none of the above.

22) The marginal value of time in the market is equal to

a. the product of the real wage (the marginal product of labor) and

marginal utility of consumption of the market good.

b. the real wage (the marginal product of labor).

c. marginal utility of consumption of the market good.

d. The price of the market good.

23) The durable goods revolution can be represented in the marginal value of

time diagrams by a rotation of the marginal value of time in the home curve.

This would,

a. decrease the marginal value of time in the home at low hours of home

work relative to more hours, and increase the likelihood that women

choose to work in the market.

b. Increase the marginal value of time in the home at low hours of home

work relative to more hours of home work, and increase the

likelihood that women choose to work in the market

c. decrease the marginal value of time in the home at low hours of home

work relative to more hours, and decrease the likelihood that women

choose to work in the market.

d. Increase the marginal value of time in the home at low hours of home

work relative to more hours of home work, and decrease the

likelihood that women choose to work in the market

24) Full income refers to

a. the income the family would get if the man worked the total amount

left sleeping and the woman worked in the home.

b. the income the family would get if the woman worked the total

amount left after sleeping and the man worked in the home.

c. the income the family would get if both the man and woman worked

the total amount of time available after sleeping plus any non-labor

income.

d. the income the family receives when they work a full time job of forty

hours per week rather than a part time job.

25) If a mom is already spending a lot of time at home taking care of her

children, then an increase in the wage will likely

a. Increase the price of child services, the lost opportunity cost from

working in the market, more than it will increase additional income

from an increase in the wage, resulting in a decrease in the quantity of

child services provided

b. Decrease the price of child services, the lost opportunity cost from

working in the market, more than it will increase additional income

from an increase in the wage, resulting in a decrease in the quantity of

child services provided

c. Decrease the price of child services, the lost opportunity cost from

working in the market, more than it will increase additional income

from an increase in the wage, resulting in a increase in the quantity of

child services provided

d. Decrease the price of child services, the lost opportunity cost from

working in the market, more than it will decrease additional income

from a decrease in the wage, resulting in a decrease in the quantity of

child services provided

26) If women’s earnings increase then

a. It’s possible the MVT in leisure and MVT in the home do not change.

This would occur if the rise in the MVT in the market is not large

enough to induce a woman to work.

b. It’s possible that the MVT in the market will rise, which will cause the

MVT in the market to be greater than MVT in leisure and the MVT in

the home. So a woman who previously was not working in the market

will devote some hours to market hours, reducing their time spent in

leisure and home hours.

c. Both a. and b. are possible

d. None of the above

27) The total fertility rate is

a. the number of births 1,000 women today would have over their

lifetimes from age 10 to 49 if they had the age specific fertility rates

that currently prevail.

b. the number of births to single women divided by the number of single

women aged 15-44.

c. the rate, which if sustained indefinitely, would cause population

growth to come to a halt.

d. the number of births in a year to women of any age divided by the

number of women aged 15-44.

28) When separating out child quantity and child quality, an increase in the

wage

a. Causes an increase in child quality and an increase in child quantity.

b. Causes a decrease in child quantity and an increase in child quality.

c. Causes a decrease in child quality and a decrease in child quantity.

d. Causes a decrease in child quality and an increase in child quantity.

29) Through one of the presentations about divorce and family distress we

learned,

a. unilateral divorce led to a reduction in male suicide rates

b. unilateral divorce led to a reduction in female suicide rates

c. unilateral divorce led to an increase in male suicide rates

d. unilateral divorce led to an increase in female suicide rates

30) An increase in availability of contraceptives would likely

a. Decrease the number of women willing to marry at every level of

surplus, and decrease the number of men willing to marry at every

level of surplus, decreasing the number of marriages.

b. Increase the number of women willing to marry at every level of

surplus, and increase the number of men willing to marry at every

level of surplus, increasing the number of marriages.

c. Increase the number of women willing to marry at every level of

surplus, and no impact on the number of men willing to marry, the

number of marriages falls.

d. Increase the number of men willing to marry at every level of the

surplus, and no impact on the number of women willing to marry, the

number of marriages increases.

AnswersQuestion 1.a. Rational ChoiceQuestion 2. Question 3.Question 3. d. Her opportunity cost of producing market goods, which is the numberof home goods she gives up to produce a market goo…