INSTRUCTOR DISCUSSION NOTES:
Bats are Worth More to Us Than Just Fighting Crime

1. What does fear of rabies and vampire bats do to the price of cotton?

Raises the price of cotton because it reduces the availability of bats to eat the bollworms. This either forces cotton farmers to deal with the reduced cotton harvest, or use artificial pesticides to eliminate the bollworm.

2. According to the article, many cotton farmers are beginning to construct bat roosts to entice bats to come to their farms. What does that say about the marginal benefits and marginal costs about such actions?

This would imply that the marginal benefits of adding the bat roost to the farm are at least as high as the marginal costs of doing so.

3. If we were to calculate the total economic benefit of having bats in the US, what would we have to do?

Determine the economic benefit for each crop that is helped by bats eating worms. This would require a similar study done in Hawaii, Georgia, California, or other states similarly effected by bats.

Multiple Choice/True False Questions

1. What does the use of bats in cotton production do to the price of cotton?

  1. Keeps it low because the amount of cotton will remain high.
  2. Keeps it high because the amount of cotton will remain high.
  3. Keeps it low because the amount of cotton will remain low.
  4. Keeps it low because the amount of cotton will remain low.
ANS . a

2. What does the use of bats do to the costs associated with cotton farming?

  1. Raises them.
  2. Lowers them.
  3. Keeps them the same.
  4. Unclear because we don't know how much the bats cost.
ANS . b

3. If we assume that there are 4 million bats in the Southwestern US from 1 May to 15 June (46 days), and each one saves about $0.02 of cotton per day by eating the bollworms, how much total cotton has been saved in this period?
  1. $80,000.
  2. $1,200,000.
  3. $2,400,000.
  4. $3,680,000.
ANS . d

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