preview

The Causes of Market Failure

Better Essays

Why do markets fail to generate socially desirable outcomes? Markets are not infallible. They can fail to organise economic activity in a socially desirable fashion. Markets failure are due to social inefficiency and inequity. In the real world, the market rarely leads to social efficiency: the marginal social benefits of most goods and services do not equal the marginal social cost. Part of the problem is the existence of 'externalities', part is a lack of competition, and part is the fact that markets may take a long time to adjust to any disequilibrium, given the often considerable short-run immobility of factors of production. Let's analyse the types of market failure.

Externalities

The market will not lead to social efficiency if …show more content…

In more extreme cases it could make various activities illegal which make also caused market failure.

Changes in Property Rights

Limited nature of property rights. Property rights define who owns property, to what uses it can be put, the rights other people have over it and how it may be transferred. By extending these rights, individuals may be able to prevent other people imposing costs on them, or charge them for doing so. For example, the rich can afford 'better' justice for top lawyers. Thus even you have a right to sue a large company for dumping toxic waste near you, you may not have the legal muscle to win.

Taxes from the Government

When there are imperfections in the market, social efficiency will not be achieved. Marginal social benefit (MSB) will not equal social cost (MSC). A different level of output would be more desirable. It forces firms to take on board the full social costs and benefits of their actions. For example, the bigger the external costs of a firm's actions, the bigger the tax can be.

Behaviour of Monopolies and Oligopolies

Monopolies may lead to 'inefficient allocation' of resources because they may encourage suppliers to charge an abnormally high price and produce too little, thereby diminishing overall social welfare. They also have important distributional effects, leading to a redistribution of gains from exchange away from the consumers to the monopolist. If the monopoly continues to persist in the

Get Access