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Market Failure Across the Economy

Externalities and social costs and benefits

  • 3 things to know
  • Papers 1 and 3

Overview

Externalities, private, external and social costs and calculating social cost, social benefit, examples of negative and positive externalities in production and consumption, over-production and under-consumption, marginal social against marginal private cost on a diagram, welfare loss, internalising an externality, and setting a tax equal to the external cost.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is a private cost?

Key term

State the relationship between private, external and social cost.

Numbers

A firm's private cost of making a unit is £8 and the external cost imposed on others is £3. Calculate the social cost per unit.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is an externality?

    Model answer

    An externality is a cost or benefit arising from a transaction that falls on a third party who is neither the buyer nor the seller.

  2. 2

    What is a private cost?

    Model answer

    A private cost is the cost of an activity that is borne by the firm or consumer undertaking it.

  3. 3

    What is an external cost?

    Model answer

    An external cost is the cost of an activity that falls on third parties and is paid for by neither the buyer nor the seller.

  4. 4

    State the relationship between private, external and social cost.

    Model answer

    Social cost equals private cost plus external cost.

  5. 5

    A firm's private cost of making a unit is £8 and the external cost imposed on others is £3. Calculate the social cost per unit.

    Model answer

    The social cost is £11 per unit.

  6. 6

    What is social benefit?

    Model answer

    Social benefit is the total benefit to society, equal to the private benefit to the consumer plus any external benefit received by third parties.

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