b) Externalities
during market failure
goods and services that produce positive externalities of consumption are under-consumed
goods and services that produce negative externalities of consumption are over-consumed
goods and services that produce positive externalities of production are under-produced
goods and services that produce negative externalities of production are over-produced
marginal social cost = the cost to society produced by the consumption or production of one unit of a good or service
marginal private cost = the cost paid by firms to produce or the cost paid by consumers to consume one unit of a good or service
marginal social benefit = the benefit to society produced by the consumption or production of one unit of a good or service
marginal private benefit = the profit earned bt firms from producing or the utility earned by consumers from consuming one unit of a good or service
welfare loss = the decrease in the productive efficiency of the economy due to a misallocation of resources
welfare gain = the increase in the productive efficiency of the economy due to an optimum allocation of resources