Plastic Shopping Bag Policies Are Actually Working

Answer the following questions to check your understanding of the story.

What type of externality does shopping with plastic bags create?

a) Negative consumption externality

b) Positive consumption externality

c) Positive production externality

d) Negative production externality

Do shoppers overuse plastic bags?

a) No! Because using plastic bags is convenient.

b) No! They use the amount of plastic bags that are available.

c) Yes! Because they don’t consider that plastic bags create pollution and harm to animals.

d) Yes! Because if one shopper uses plastic bags, others will too.

Why does the fee for plastic shopping bags reduce the number of bags used?

With the fee, ___________.

a) shoppers buy fewer groceries

b) shoppers receive a greater benefit from using a plastic bag

c) shoppers substitute cloth bags for plastic bags

d) the external cost of using plastic shopping bags increases

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