Consider an individual with preferences given by ?(?, ?) = 2?^1/2 . C^1/2 where C is consumption and L is leisure. Suppose the total time available each day is 16 hours, the wage rate is $8, the price of the consumption good is normalized to $1, and non-labour income is $50. (i) What is the individual’s reservation wage? Will the individual participate in the labour market? (ii) What is the optimal time spent working given these preferences and budget constraint?
Given
U(C,L)=2L^(1/2).C^(1/2)
MUL=dU(C,L)/dL=L^(-1/2)C^(1/2)
MUC=dU(C,L)/dC=L^(1/2)C^(-1/2)
MRS=MUL/MUC=L^(-1/2)C^(1/2)/L^(1/2)C^(-1/2)=C/L
i)
Reservation wage is equal to MRS if individual does not work. In this case,
C=Non labor income (V)=$50
L=16
So,
Reservation wage=C/L=50/16=$3.125 per hour
Current wage ($8) is higher than the reservation wage. So, individual will participate in the labor market.
ii)
Set MRS=wage rate for utility maximization
C/L=8
C=8L
Budget constraint is given by
C=V+(16-L)*w=50+(16-L)*8=50+128-8L=178-8L
Set C=8L
8L=178-8L
16L=178
L=11.125
So, Optimal time spent on working=16-11.125=4.875 hours
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