4. Problems and Applications Q4 Many observers believe that the levels of pollution in our society are too high. True or False: If society wishes to reduce overall pollution by a certain amount, it is efficient to have firms with lower costs reduce greater amounts of pollution than those with higher costs.

True

Explanation:

Firms with lower costs would also incur a lower cost when they try to reduce pollution so they should reduce more pollution because of this reduced cost that they will incur.

Firms with higher costs would then reduce less pollution because this would ensure that they do not spend too much on pollution reduction and incur even more costs.

in 2001, dell computer became the world’s largest personal computer vendor, continuing to

gain market share and post profits in an industry struggling with slumping sales and billions of

dollars in losses. dell sells 90% of its pcs directly to the final customer, largely bypassing the

reseller channel that accounts for most of the world’s pc sales. this direct customer relationship

is the key to dell’s business model, and provides distinct advantages over the indirect sales

model. dell’s direct relationship with the customer allows it to tailor its offerings to customer

needs, offer add-on products and services, and use the internet to offer a variety of customer

services. in addition, dell’s pcs are built to customers’ specifications upon receipt of an order,

giving dell additional advantages over indirect pc vendors who must try to forecast demand and

ship products based on those forecasts. dell’s direct sales and build-to-order model has achieved

superior performance in the pc industry in terms of inventory turnover, reduced overhead, cash

conversion, and return on investment (kraemer, et al., 2000).

explanation: