6355 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Perfect Competition, Social Cost, Market Failure

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20 Jun 2018

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University of Canberra

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University of Canberra

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6355

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Week 9 – The Role of Government in Market Failure

What’s good about the market?

- Equilibrium in a competitive market results in the economically efficient level of

output, where marginal benefit equals marginal cost.

- Also, equilibrium in a competitive market results in the greatest amount of economic

surplus, or total net benefit to society, from the production of a good or service.

Market Failure

- Market failure occurs when the market does not result in economic efficiency –

allocative inefficiency arises

- The market fails to produce the efficient level of output – too many or too few goods

and services consumed or produced

Why government?

1. Legal Systems & Rule of Law

- The ability of a government to enforce the laws of a country, particularly with

respect to protecting private property and enforcing contracts

2. Increase Competition

- A lack of competition in the market is a form of market failure, as it leads to

allocative inefficiency – too little is produced at a price greater than marginal cost

- Measures to increase competition include:

- Deregulation

- ACCC enforcement of the Trade Practices Act

- Trade Reform

3. Make markets contestable

- A contestable market is one in which the potential for competition exists due to

minimal entry and exit costs

- Even monopoly markets may have the potential to be competitive with government

intervention

4. Regulating a Natural Monopoly

Natural Monopoly; A situation in which economies of scale are so large that one firm

can supply the entire market at a lower average cost than can two or more firms

- Regulated prices

- Third party access

5. Externalities

- Externality is a benefit or cost that affects someone who is not directly involved in

the production or consumption of a good or service

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Negative Externalities

Negative Externalities occur when a production or consumption activity imposes costs on

others who are not directly associated with that activity, and no compensation is paid

Consumption examples:

- Cigarette smoke

- Wild parties

Production examples:

- Noise, air and water pollution

- Land degradation and/or contamination

- Global warming

Positive externalities

-Positive (beneficial) externalities in consumption or production occur when an activity

benefits others who are not directly involved, and who do not pay for it

-E.g. education, public transport, private gardens, research etc.

Externalities and Efficiency

Private Cost: the cost borne by the producer of a good or service

Social Cost: the total cost of producing a good, including both the private cost and any external cost

Externalities and Efficiency

How a negative externality in production reduces economic efficiency

-Taking account of total social cost, market equilibrium quantity is too high

-Between Q2 and Q1 social cost of each unit is greater than the benefit of each unit, so each

unit of production between this interval reduces total surplus

Welfare loss in market equilibrium

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Document Summary

Week 9 the role of government in market failure. Equilibrium in a competitive market results in the economically efficient level of output, where marginal benefit equals marginal cost. Also, equilibrium in a competitive market results in the greatest amount of economic surplus, or total net benefit to society, from the production of a good or service. Market failure occurs when the market does not result in economic efficiency allocative inefficiency arises. The market fails to produce the efficient level of output too many or too few goods and services consumed or produced. Why government: legal systems & rule of law. The ability of a government to enforce the laws of a country, particularly with respect to protecting private property and enforcing contracts. A lack of competition in the market is a form of market failure, as it leads to allocative inefficiency too little is produced at a price greater than marginal cost.

Related Questions

21)

Compared to the results in a perfectly competitive market, a monopoly does which of the following?

	It charges a higher price.
	It charges a price greater than the marginal cost.
	It produces less output.
	All of the above
	None of the above

22)

"X-inefficiency" refers to the idea that

	government restrictions on competition create a monopoly, which results in inefficiency.
	the cost of rent-seeking activity should be added to the welfare cost of monopoly.
	Generation X is less efficient due to a lack of competitive spirit.
	a lack of competitive pressure results in a monopoly not keeping its costs down to the lowest possible level.
	price discrimination results in inefficiently low cross-elasticities of demand.

23)

Firms in which of the following market structures can engage in price discrimination?

	monopoly
	oligopoly
	monopolistic competition
	All of the above
	None of the above

24)

Monopolistic competition and perfect competition are in all of the following ways except

	Barriers to entry are low in both
	There are many firms in both
	Firms in both produce the output level where MR=MC
	Nonprice competition is important in both

25)

To get rid of excess capacity from the monopolistic competition in the long run, what would have to be given up?

	Free entry and exit.
	economic rent
	resource allocative efficiency
	differentiated product
	productive efficiency

taupeant454

Market Analysis Market Participants Market participants act as if they are rational, self-interested, and forward-looking. For example, financial managers try to maximize the present value of profits for their particular companies, rather than ignore future values. Companies pursue many goals, but it is a financial mistake for managers to pursue any goal that conflicts with the primary goal of maximizing their firm's profits. Decentralized decision making by individual market participants is more economically efficient that centralized decision making by government policymakers. For example, it is more economically efficient to have financial managers obtain financing for their particular companies than to have government obtain it. A high degree of competition among market participants is the most economically efficient disciplining mechanism. For example, highly competitive financial markets discipline financial managers to pay fair market interest rates on the debt securities issued by their particular companies. The market system of prices is the most economically efficient allocative mechanism. For example, it is more economically efficient to distribute a firm's corporate stock to those buyers who are willing and able to pay the market price of the stock than to have the government distribute the stock. It is economically efficient for market participants to buy low and sell high globally. For example, it is economically efficient for U.S. firms to sell their financial securities to the highest bidders, no matter where they live in the world economy. Market imperfections can create considerable risk to market participants. For example, because of market imperfections, firms operating in the international financial markets encounter foreign exchange rate risk, political risk, interest rate risk, and default risk. Consumer Sovereignty The principle of consumer sovereignty tells us that by making their dollar votes, consumers indirectly determine the quantity and quality of products that firms will produce. For example, it is not economically efficient for financial managers to obtain more financing for their particular firms than is needed for their firms to produce the profit-maximizing level of output demanded by consumers. Market Economy A highly competitive market economy is largely self-regulating, in the absence of substantial market imperfections, in that economic conditions cannot be substantially improved by government regulation or other types of government intervention beyond laissez-faire policies. For example, if a firm's corporate stock is overvalued by a market economy, market forces will tend to drive down the value of the stock to a market price at which it is neither overvalued nor undervalued. As if by an invisible hand, highly competitive market forces will tend to create a harmony of interests among individual market participants, in the absence of substantial market imperfections. Consequently, the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders are compatible. For example, in trying to maximize profits, firms produce employment, income, consumer products, and wealth for households, as well as tax revenue for government, which helps maximize consumer utility and maximize social welfare. In a market economy, resources, products, and assets flow to their highest valued uses among alternative uses. For example, the shares of firms' corporate stocks will be acquired by those market participants who most highly value them, as indicated by the fact that they are willing to pay the most to acquire them. The efficient economic role of government is limited to Laissez-Faire ("hands off") policies, which create very little intervention in a market economy. For example, government regulations of banking and securities industries to maintain healthy, reasonably profitable, consumer-oriented financial markets would not be needed in a highly competitive market economy in the absence of substantial market imperfections. In a market economy, it is economically efficient for each market participant to specialize according to comparative advantage in producing what they can produce relatively better than other market participants, rather than produce all the outputs they can produce absolutely better than others. For example, it is economically efficient for people who are relatively better at being financial managers than others, to specialize in financial management even if they are absolutely better than others in doing many other types of work. If all labor were allocated to its comparative advantage, then no possible reallocation of labor would exist that could increase the rate of return to labor (i.e., the wage). There is no such thing as a free lunch, because all resources, products, and assets in a market economy are scarce. For example, current federal government budget deficits are not free to current market participants in that the deficits must be financed by future tax increases and/or future decreases in government spending and/or future inflation. For additional information on the Market Economy click here. Marks, R. E. (2006, December). There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Australian Journal of Management. 31(2). 1-7. Financial Decisions An efficient financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is one that is optimal -- meaning best; it cannot be improved, from society's perspective. If there is some profitable way to improve some business practice that would benefit society, that practice is somewhat inefficient. Any change in a financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition that improves society is an efficiency improvement. For example, it is an efficiency improvement for a business to cut production costs by reducing waste (e.g., by reducing spending on unprofitable activity. A financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is fair-- meaning just or equitable, if the financial benefits are distributed to those involved in proportion to how much they each voluntarily contributed to produce those benefits. For example, a financial practice that discriminates against some people on the basis of race, age, gender, nationality, or religion is unfair. For example, an unethical business practice is unfair. For additional information relating to Market Analysis and fair financial decisions, click on the following: Teaching Ethical Economic Practices to Business Managers. Johnston, C. (2009, October). The Proceedings of the Annual Conference of The International Academy of Business and Economics. Fairness is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, for efficiency. All efficient financial practices are fair, but some fair practices may still fail to be efficient. For example, embezzling company funds is an unfair and inefficient, criminal financial activity. As another example, an ethical business practice that could be improved is fair but not efficient. Opportunity Cost Principle Opportunity cost principle: The efficient measure of the cost of any allocation of resources, products, money income, wealth, or time is its opportunity cost -- the value of the next best use. The opportunity cost of how one uses his or her resources is the value of the highest valued alternative use. The opportunity cost of one investment is the expected return on the next best investment available to the firm. For example, the opportunity cost of a firm using some of its profits to pay dividends to its stockholders would be the present value of future income those profits could have earned if invested in the firm's highest valued investment project.

Discussion Questions These questions stem from the Class Discussion Questions you will be anwering in the Discussion Board. Think about the questions and how they relate to the financial management principles above.

2. Applications: State the financial management principle that appears to be violated in each of the following cases and explain how it is violated:

(a) A corporation is maximizing sales growth and the price of its corporate stock is falling.

(b) A highly paid financial manager in the auto industry quit his job to set up his own small auto repair shop, which is expected to incur a loss for the first three years then earn normal profits.

QUESTION 22

For a perfectly competitive firm, profit maximization (or loss minimization) occurs at the level of output at which

	a.	MR = MC.
	b.	MR = AVC.
	c.	P = ATC.
	d.	MR = ATC.

4 points

QUESTION 23

If MR > MC, then

	a.	profits are being maximized.
	b.	the firm is producing too much of the good to be maximizing profits.
	c.	the firm can increase its profits (or minimize its losses) by increasing output.
	d.	the firm must be incurring losses.

4 points

QUESTION 24

If firms are earning zero economic profits, they must be producing at an output level at which

	a.	price minus marginal cost.
	b.	total revenue equals total costs, in other words, normal profits.
	c.	price equals average variable cost.
	d.	marginal revenue equals marginal cost.
	e.	none of the above

4 points

QUESTION 25

In the theory of perfect competition,

	a.	the market demand curve is horizontal.
	b.	the single firm faces a horizontal demand curve.
	c.	the single firm faces a downward-sloping demand curve.
	d.	the market demand curve is downward sloping.
	e.	b and d

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6355 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Perfect Competition, Social Cost, Market Failure

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