Reading Assignments

Roberts (1) discusses the impact of providing different rewards to individuals in order to monitor results in his book, Incentives Matter. The speaker has substantively expressed the manner in which results have been used in diverse contexts, with visually profound implications being realized, using various illustrations. One of the instances mentioned by the author is the transportation of convicts from England to Australia, which saw less deaths because captains were promised incentives for any live convict who arrived. Furthermore, Roberts (1) exemplifies a particular side of incentives, in which consumers would want to remain under their boundaries as prices rise. The case of bread prices and weight in Chile, and the manner in which the manufacturers responded to government_x0092_s demands is a good case scenario.

Incentives range from monetary to non-monetary; of essence, however, is the author_x0092_s notable assertion that, incentives play a critical role in the way people handle various issues in life. Incentives are in use on a daily basis in our lives; most companies today are known to issue loyalty points as a means of retaining and attracting more customers to use their products.

Murphy_x0092_s _x0093_What Does Marginality Mean?_x0094_ seeks to explain the concept of marginality, using very plausible examples. According to Murphy (1), people make decisions on the margins. The difference between the prices of diamond against the price of water is explained; whereby scarcity makes diamonds worthier, and thus of higher marginal value, despite the fact that man cannot do without water. Again, the salaries of teachers against athletes are also explained. The scarcity of the sporting prowess in the athletes as compared to the abundance of potential teachers makes the whole difference in their pay. To some people, the marginal thinking supposes that teachers are less respected, which is wrong. Economically, and according to Murphy, marginality hence, explains the way in which some goods may hold a high marginal value opposed to those with a high total value, as was the case of diamonds and water.

A good example of marginality is spelt out in the case of two classes of different schools merging into one. Such a scenario means that the costs of running the merged classes would double since the set of pupils has doubled. Yet still other costs such as running the school in terms of the space, the teaching fraternity and the resources remains the same. This means that the merged institutions have better marginal values as opposed to two parallel institutions with fewer students.

_x000c_Works Cited

Murphy, Robert. What Does Marginality Mean? 11 Aug. 2004, https://mises.org/library/what- does-marginality-mean. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

Roberts, Russell. Incentives Matter. Library of Economics and Liberty, 5 Jun. 2006, http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2006/Robertsincentives.html#. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.