Externalities

610 Words2 Pages

What are externalities?

Externalities are common in virtually every area of economic activity.

They are defined asthird party (or spill-over) effects arising from

the production and/or consumption of goods and services for which no

appropriate compensation is paid.

Externalities can cause market failure if the price mechanism does not

take into account the full social costs and social benefits of

production and consumption.

The study of externalities by economists has become extensive in

recent years - not least because of concerns about the link between

the economy and the environment.

PRIVATE AND SOCIAL COSTS

Externalities create a divergence between the private and social costs

of production.

Social cost includes all the costs of production of the output of a

particular good or service. We include the third party (external)

costs arising, for example, from pollution of the atmosphere.

SOCIAL COST = PRIVATE COST + EXTERNALITY

For example: - a chemical factory emits wastage as a by-product into

nearby rivers and into the atmosphere. This creates ne...

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