Externalities
Vocab / Acronyms
Taxes
Types of Goods
100

These are the two types of externalities we deal with.

What are negative and positive externalities?

100

Define tariff

What is a tax on imported goods

100

Tax on inelastic demand/supply is _____ efficient.

more, less

more --> add tax and people will still buy good

100

Public goods are _____ and _____.

Give one example of a public good

hint: rival, non-rival, excludable, non-excludable

Public goods are non-rival and are non-excludable.

ex: lighthouse, tornado siren

200

Give an example of a government regulation.

taxes and subsidies are the ones we discuss in class

200

What do all of these stand for?

SMB

SMC

PMB

PMC

EMB

EMC

SMB = Social Marginal Benefit

SMC = Social Marginal Cost

PMB = Private Marginal Benefit

PMC = Private Marginal Cost

EMB = External Marginal Benefit

EMC = External Marginal Cost

200

Taxes on elastic demand/supply are _____ efficient

More, less

Less --> add tax and people will go find substitute

200

Private goods are _____ + _____.

Give one example of a private good

hint: rival, non-rival, excludable, non-excludable

Private goods are excludable and rival.

ex: any kind of food

300

These are the two characteristics that make an externality. 

1. affects a third party

2. there is not a market for this externality

300

SMC stands for what? What is the formula?

SMB stands for what? What is the formula?

*hint: ______ + _______


Social Marginal Cost = PMC + EMC

Social Marginal Benefit = PMB + EMB

300

What are the differences between proportional, regressive, and progressive taxes?

Proportional taxation: each person pays the same percent --> ex: At 20%, one pays $3,000 and the other pays $1,000,000 

Progressive taxation: tax rate rises as income rises
ex: One with less income pays 10% = $1500 and One with more income pays 30% = $1,500,000 

Regressive taxation: tax rates fall as income rises ex: One with less income pays 30% = $4,500 and one with more income pays 10% = $500,000 

300

Open access goods are ____ + ____.

Give one example of an open access good

hint: rival, non-rival, excludable, non-excludable

Open access goods are non-excludable and rival. 

Ex: fish in the sea, freshwater, Earth's environment

400

give an example of a positive externality. give an example of a negative externality. Why are these considered externalities?

neg ex: pig farm produces odor

pos ex: bee farm pollinates plants

** are externalities because third party is affected and there is not a market for the externalities

400

Define excludability.

Define rival.

Excludability: the ability to exclude someone from a good/service once it is produced

Rival: how does one person's use of the good affect anothers?

400

How does elasticity play a role in taxes?

How do we measure tax efficiency?

hint: in terms of ___ and ___

- Tax items with low elasticity the highest 

- Decrease tax rates as elasticity rises  

  • Maximizes efficiency (in terms of DWL / Tax Revenue) 

  • Extremely “unfair”: low-income people devote larger percent of income to items with low elasticity 

400

Club goods are ____ + ____.

Give one example of a club good

hint: rival, non-rival, excludable, non-excludable

club goods are non-rival and excludable. 

ex: football tickets


500

BEFORE INTERVENTION, Market Price is too_____ and market quantity is too ______ for 

1. Positive externality

2. Negative externality

positive externality: 

market q is too low, market price is too low for producers and too high for consumers

negative externality:

market q is too high and market price is too low

500

What is horizontal equity and vertical equity?

HORIZONTAL EQUITY: consider two people who earn the same amount of money doing different things 

-taxpayers with equal income should pay equal tax

VERTICAL EQUITY: Consider two people who earn different amounts of money doing different things 

-taxpayers with different income should pay different amounts of taxes (more income, more taxes)

500

Highly progressive tax --> Try to tax very high incomes, wealth, large-ticket items the most. This is the least efficient (in terms of DWL / Tax Revenue). Why?

very high incomes, wealth, large-ticket items = high elasticities of demand 

-larger elasticity, more flexible = add a tax and they will spend their money somewhere else

500

What kind of a good is education?

hint: falls somewhere in between the four types of goods. 

Hybrid good-

-Why do we see some goods produced by both the private sector and public sector? 

-They have some components that are public in nature but also some components that are private in nature: 

-Education – Society needs people to have a basic level of education. But individuals can expect higher salaries the better educated they are. 

-Some government involvement in either provision or funding will be necessary to achieve allocative efficiency in these markets 

M
e
n
u