Case Study

Policy Evaluation with Quasi-Linear Utility

A city government is considering two cash transfer programs to boost citizen well-being. A policy analyst, assuming all citizens have preferences described by the utility function U(x, m) = v(x) + m (where 'x' is a bundle of goods and 'm' is income), makes the following claim: 'Program A, which gives $100 to every citizen, and Program B, which gives $200 to low-income citizens and $0 to high-income citizens, will produce the same total increase in utility for a low-income and a high-income citizen combined, provided the cost is the same.' Based strictly on the properties of the given utility function, evaluate the analyst's claim. Is it correct? Justify your answer by explaining how utility changes with income in this specific model.

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Updated 2025-08-12

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