3. Wild morel mushrooms are a delicacy in soups and salads. The following table shows the number of mushrooms that can be harvested per picker per hour in a fictional forest, depending on the number of pickers.

Mushrooms per P i c ke r s Pi c ke r p e r Hour 1 70 2 60 3 50 4 40 5 30 6 20 7 10

a) Assuming that each mushroom sells for $1, graph the average and marginal revenue for society at each level of effort (number of pickers).

b) Given that the opportunity cost of each picker’s time is $10 per hour, label the socially optimal number of pickers and the number of pickers that will enter if the forest is an open-access resource.

Explain why the pickers will dissipate the economic rent.