What is the shape of the marginal benefit curve for pollution reduction?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating the marginal benefit (MB) of pollution reduction, the key idea is diminishing additional benefits as more pollution is reduced.
Option 1: 'Downward sloping' — This is correct because the first units of pollution reduction typically yield large benefits (e.g., health improvements, cleaner air), but as reductions accumulate, the incremental benefits of each extra unit fall off, creating a downward-sloping MB curve.
Option 2: 'Straight up and down (vertical)' — An upward- or vertical MB curve would imply that the benefit of reducing pollution suddenly jumps with more reductions or is the same across all quantities, which misrepresents the gradual, decreasing value of each additional unit of reduction and is therefore incorrect.
Option 3: 'Flat (horizontal)' — A flat MB curve would mean the benefit from reducing pollution is constant regardless of how much is reduced, ignoring the typical diminishing returns and the stronger benefits at lower pollution levels, so this does not fit standard economic intuition here.
Option 4: 'Upward sloping' — An upward slope would imply that reducing more pollution raises the marginal benefit at an increasing rate, which contradicts the common understanding that each extra unit provides less incremental benefit than the previous one.
Overall, the downward-sloping shape captures the essence of diminishing marginal benefits from progressively reducing pollution, aligning with environmental economics models of optimal pollution control.

What is the shape of the marginal benefit curve for pollution reduction?

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