3. Harriet enjoys watching both American Idol and Desperate Housewives on televi

Question

3. Harriet enjoys watching both American Idol and Desperate Housewives on
television. Her preferences correspond to the utility function U(A,D) = 2A + 4vD, where A
stands for the number of hours she watches American Idol and D is the number of hours she
watches Desperate Housewives.

a. How would Harriet rank the following alternatives: 4 hours of American Idol and 2 hours
of Desperate Housewives, 2 hours of American Idol and 4 hours of Desperate Housewives
and 3 hours of American Idol and 3 hours of Desperate Housewives?

b. Suppose that one week, Desperate Housewives is not shown, but there is a two-hour
American Idol special (instead of the usual one-hour program). Is Harriet better off or worse
off? Explain.

c. Would Harriet's preferences change if her utility function was expressed as U(A,D) = 2A +
 vD+6?

d. Why or why not?

I NEED YOU TO SHOW THE WORK FOR THIS PROBLEM PLEASE!

Explanation / Answer

U(A,D) = 2A + 4D a) She would prefer 2 hours of American Idol and 4 hours of desperate housewives, then 3 hours of both and finally 4 hours of American Idol and 2 hours of Desperate Housewives. [ I got this by putting value of A and D in the utility function and then ranked them ] b) U(A,D) = 2A + 4D Now utility from 1 hour of A and 1 hour of D = 2+ 4 = 6 Now suppose we have 2 hours of A and 0 hour of D, then utility = 2*2 = 4 So her utility have fallen even though the no of hours of American Idol have doubled. So, she is worse off. c) U(A,D) = 2A + D + 6 Yes her preferences would change. This is because in previous utility she gave higher weightage to D over A. But in this utility function she's giving higher weightage to A over D

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