If hikers and others had to pay a fee to use the Appalachian Trail, the use of this common resource would be more efficient because the price could be set to equal marginal social benefit at the efficient quantity. It would be even more efficient if the most popular spots had more highly priced access.
Explanation:
Hikers are the person who goes for long walk from a lower elevation to higher elevation.
Common resources are the resources that are available to everyone in-spite of difference. The common resource is open source so it benefits the users.
In the above scenario, government decides to charge the hikers and others using the Appalachian Trail. The common resources can be used efficiently if the popular spots had more highly priced access.
Answer: more efficient because the price could be set to equal marginal social benefit at the efficient quantity; even more efficient.
Explanation: If hikers and others had to pay a fee to use the Appalachian Trail, the use of this common resource would be __more efficient because the price could be set to equal marginal social benefit at the efficient quantity____. It would be __even more efficient ____ if the most popular spots had more highly priced access.
the marginal social benefit of a public good is given as the amount that all the people (users of the trail) are willing pay at a a given quantity for one unit. Marginal social benefits equals price when efficient amount of output is produced. This is a major reason why the use of the Appalachian Trail, a common resource would be more efficient and even more efficient if popular spots have more highly priced access (trail users are generally willing to pay more to have access to popular locations).
