QUESTION $16$

Article Summary

According to the online real estate database company Zillow, homes located near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's location have appreciated in value at double the rate of homes in other areas. From $1997$ to $2014,$ the median U$.$S$.$ home had appreciated $71$ percent, while a median home near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's appreciated $140$ percent and $148$ percent, respectively. Although some analysts believe this is due to these retailers often opening stores in high$-$income neighborhoods, Zillow researchers found that before a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's opened, homes near where the stores would eventually be appreciated at the same pace of comparable homes across the city, but after the stores opened the appreciation rate of homes in close proximity increased at a faster rate.

Source: Marian McPherson, "Living near these $2$ stores boosts a home's value,"

inman.com, June $19,2017.$

Refer to the Article Summary. Assuming the findings are correct and all else equal, people who do not shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's can still benefit from living fiear the stores, as is shown by the higher home values. As a result, the marginal social benefit from living near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's is the marginal private benefit to those who shop at these stores.

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