Lesson 2.10.1

2.10.1 Public and private goods, and the free rider problem Quiz: OCR Economics, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 2.10.1, Public and private goods, and the free rider problem: 20 multiple choice questions for the OCR Economics (H460), Unit 2: The role of markets, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What two main characteristics define a pure public good?

    • Non-rival and excludable
    • Rival and non-excludable
    • Rival and excludable
    • Non-rival and non-excludable

  2. Which problem arises when people benefit from a good without paying for it?

    • Adverse selection problem
    • Principal-agent problem
    • Moral hazard problem
    • Free rider problem

  3. Which of the following examples best represents a pure public good?

    • Private health insurance
    • Toll motorway
    • National flood defence
    • Public bus service

  4. What type of market failure is caused by pure public goods?

    • Asymmetric information failure
    • Complete market failure
    • Negative externality failure
    • Partial market failure

  5. Which term describes a good that is both excludable and rival in consumption?

    • Private good
    • Club good
    • Quasi-public good
    • Merit good

  6. What is the marginal cost of supplying a pure public good to an extra user?

    • Zero
    • Equal to price
    • Constant
    • Rising

  7. Which term refers to a good with characteristics of both public and private goods?

    • Pure free good
    • Demerit good
    • Inferior good
    • Quasi-public good

  8. How does technology turn non-excludable analogue television broadcasts into excludable goods?

    • Through indirect taxation
    • Through digital encryption
    • Through state subsidies
    • Through price ceilings

  9. What causes a non-rival public road to become a quasi-public good during peak hours?

    • Price discrimination
    • Government regulation
    • Perfect elasticity
    • Traffic congestion

  10. Why do private sector firms fail to supply pure public goods profitably?

    • Zero demand
    • High fixed costs
    • Government limits
    • Inability to charge

  11. Which feature best describes a good that is excludable but non-rival?

    • Common pool resource
    • Private good
    • Public good
    • Club good

  12. Which solution is most commonly used by governments to provide pure public goods?

    • General taxation funding
    • Maximum price controls
    • Tradeable emission permits
    • Production quotas

  13. Why is it difficult for governments to determine the optimal quantity of a public good?

    • Concealed consumer preferences
    • Infinite production costs
    • Perfectly elastic supply
    • Negative marginal utility

  14. Fish stocks in international waters are non-excludable but rival. What type of good are they?

    • Merit good
    • Pure public good
    • Private good
    • Common pool resource

  15. If an additional street light costs £0 to illuminate for one extra pedestrian, what is non-rivalry?

    • Zero marginal cost
    • Zero price elasticity
    • Zero opportunity cost
    • Infinite market demand

  16. Which of these is a private good because it is both rival and excludable?

    • An apple
    • Street lighting
    • Lighthouse signal
    • National defence

  17. Why does the price mechanism fail completely in the provision of pure public goods?

    • Inability to price
    • Demand exceeds supply
    • Supply exceeds demand
    • Inflation distorts prices

  18. What type of good is a toll bridge operating below its traffic capacity?

    • Pure private good
    • Quasi-public good
    • Pure public good
    • Inferior good

  19. Which market situation leads to a missing market for pure public goods?

    • Complete market failure
    • Government intervention
    • Excess demand
    • Partial market failure

  20. What term describes a good whose consumption by one person prevents simultaneous consumption by another?

    • Non-rivalrous
    • Rivalrous
    • Non-excludable
    • External

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