Tag: incentives

Monopolistic Motives

2020

 

The Parks Department has arranged a gala to raise money for a new park on the old Sullivan Lot. If they can’t raise the money, the lot will be sold to build another Paunch Burger. Nothing has gone their way while organizing the gala, and Tom hasn’t been able to find a caterer who was willing to provide free food, but then he had an idea. Paunch Burger operates in a monopolistically competitive market, which means the introduction of another fast-food business would lead to decreased demand for other fast-food companies. Tom is then able to arrange other fast food companies to provide food since they have more to lose if a new restaurant opens.

See more: monopolistic competition, imperfect competition, demand, substitutes, incentives

The Newports sell their land

2018

As the prices of real estate in Pawnee rises, it induces the Newport family to sell some of the land that they own. This clip can be used to illustrate the law of supply and the role if incentives.

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Tom Knows Incentives

2018

Tom needs help learning about basketball so that he can connect with the customers at his store. He believes Ben and Andy can help him since they’re good with numbers and athletic (respectively), but he tricks them into coming into his office by telling them that their favorite items are there. For Ben, he claims that Michael Stipe is in the office, but all he needs to do is offer Andy some free Skittles, respectively to incentivize him.

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Motivating Workers

2018

Ron and Chris disagree with the best way to motivate workers. While Chris takes a more intrinsic approach, Ron focuses on base level needs of fear and hunger, but also on money. Ron’s extrinsic approach comes from his belief in markets being able to serve as a motivator. Both agree that motivating workers can increase productivity, but disagree on the best method of doing so.

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Incompetent Animal Control

2018

The Animal Control Department in Pawnee is pretty inept. Their role in the government serves a purpose, but they aren’t doing a very good job. It’s possible a private enterprise (like a pest control service) could be more effective, but its cheaper to staff a few employees to do the same work.

Thanks to an anonymous submitted for the clip!

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Cologne Cloud

2017

Tom wants to look good, and smell good, for Jessica Newport so he decides to sit for a few minutes in his “cologne cloud.” The smell is so overpowering though that Leslie needs to exit the car immediately. While Tom feels be benefits are worth the smell, Leslie isn’t a fan of the external effects.

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Andy Goes to College

2017

Andy has decided to take a class at the local community college and April is helping him look through the catalog. Ron encourages him to take a course in a new subject and broaden his horizons, but April thinks he should take an easy class to get an A.

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Fairness of Splitting a Check

2017

Ann announces that she is not a fan of group dinners where everyone splits the check. This is most likely because she believes she’ll spend under the average bill and would have to pay more than her share if split equally. While it’s more efficient to split the bill, it often leads to some inequities in the final amount each person pays.

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Weed in a Community Garden

2017

Leslie tries to turn a local pit into a community garden and allow citizens to plant whatever they chose in the garden. One citizen has taken advantage of the situation and decided to plant marijuana in the garden instead of vegetables or flowers.

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Who’s a Perfect Worker?

2017

Most firms want workers who are hard working and dedicated, but Ron believes Tom is the best government employee because he doesn’t have those qualities. Tom’s ability to shirk would probably get him fired in most companies, but Ron sees things a bit differently.

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